NEW HAVEN, Conn. - After starting off the season 3-0, the Stony Brook men's basketball lost its first game of the season on Saturday as they were bested by the reigning Ivy League champion Yale 86-79 in New Haven.

How It Happened

• Erik Pratt and Rob Brown III got things started with a couple of early threes within the first two minutes to quickly give Stony Brook a 6-3 lead. The Seawolves, though, were held to just seven more points over the next seven minutes as the Bulldogs pulled ahead 26-13 with under 11 top play.
• Tomas Valentiny and Jonah Butler would get the Seawolves offense back on track with back-to-back threes as 10:53 and 10:19 to make it 26-19. After a couple of Yale free throws, Richard Goods came through with his first three of the day at 8:54 to cut the deficit to six.
• With under five to go in the first half, Oleg Kojenets drained his first of the year from behind the arc. Valentiny and Butler would each get their second of the day from deep to make it nine-straight Seawolves points and to make it 36-33 with three minutes to go. Inside of two minutes, Pratt would continue to pour it on with his second of the day from beyond the arc to finally tie the game at 38-38. The Bulldogs would ultimately end the half with a slim 40-38 lead.
• Five minutes into the second half and the Seawolves found themselves down by nine at 52-43 after the Bulldogs came out on a 12-5 run. Though Stony Brook would two more threes from Valentiny and Brown III, the deficit continued to grow as Yale took a 67-54 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
• Pratt knocked down his third of the day from deep with nine minutes left to make it a 10-point game, before draining his fourth to pull Stony Brook within nine at 69-60 with under eight to go. Brown III would later lower it to a seven-point lead with a layup and the and-one as the Seawolves trailed just 72-65 with less than five minutes left. Then, with just 2:11 on the clock he came up with his second three-pointer of the game cut the lead down to 74-70.
• That would be as close as it would get, however, as Yale immediately responded with a three of their own, followed by two from the line, to regrow its lead to nine, holding it through the final minute.

Stats and Notes

• As a team, Stony Brook shot a season-best 54.0% from the floor and 48.1% on threes today. The team finished with 13 made three-pointers, with Pratt and Valentiny leading the way with four and three each.
• Pratt recorded his first 20-point game of the season with a team-high 22 points.
• Brown III had his third double-digit scoring effort of the season with 13 today. He was tied in scoring with Valentiny.
• Collin O'Connor had his best game of the season so far, topping double figures for the first time with 15 points, going 5-for-6 from the field. He also led the team with four assists.

Up Next

The Seawolves are back home for one game next week as they host another Ivy League opponent, Brown, on Thursday, November 20, at 6:31 p.m. The game will be streamed live on FloCollege.

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