HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Stony Brook men's basketball earned an 80-75 victory over rival Hofstra in the Battle of Long Island on Saturday evening at the Mack Complex.
Andre Snoddy and
CJ Luster II combined to score 53 points and delivered in clutch moments on both ends of the floor down the stretch to snap the Seawolves' three-game losing streak.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Snoddy had things working offensively to start the game, helping Stony Brook overcome an early seven-point deficit. A jumper at the 11:19 mark pushed Snoddy's point total to 12 and put the Seawolves ahead, 16-14.
- Stony Brook led for a majority of the final 10 minutes of the second half, but the Pride scored twice in the final two minutes and carried a narrow 33-31 advantage into the break.
- Hofstra held onto its lead for much of the second half, answering every Stony Brook attempt to whittle its deficit.
- Cruz Davis connected on a trifecta at the 8:34 mark of the second half to make it a seven-point game, the largest margin between the two sides in the second half.
- The Seawolves turned the tide at the 4:53 mark, ripping off eight straight points to turn their five-point deficit into a three-point lead, 66-63.
- Stony Brook never trailed from that point on, though Hofstra cut the Seawolves' advantage to one point on two occasions. The Seawolves made eight of their final nine free throws in the final minute of action, closing out a victory over Long Island rival Hofstra and snapping a three-game losing streak.
STATS AND NOTES
- Snoddy registered his fifth double-double of the season and his second straight. The Long Island native scored a career-high 27 points and added 12 rebounds. He finished 13-of-14 from the free throw line and played all 40 minutes.
- Luster tallied 26 points, connecting on five three-pointers and nine-of-10 at the free throw line.
- Collin O'Connor logged a full 40 minutes for the fourth straight game. He scored eight points and more impressively, finished with six assists and zero turnovers.
- Sabry Philip, making his fifth straight start in the absence of Joe Octave, turned in a career-high performance with eight points. His jumper with 1:14 to play made it a two-possession game and gave Stony Brook the cushion it needed to ice the game at the charity stripe.
- The Seawolves scored 49 second-half points, shooting better than 50 percent from the floor, better than 60 percent from beyond the arc and connecting on 20-of-28 at the free throw line over the final 20 minutes of play.
- Stony Brook shot 48.9 percent from the floor, its second-best mark against a conference opponent and the fourth-best percentage this season.
- The Seawolves shot a season-best 52.9 percent from beyond the arc and converted on a season-high 27 free throws.
- Stony Brook's 27 makes at the charity stripe were its most since converting on 27 in a victory over Binghamton on January 19, 2022 (106 games).
- The Seawolves went to the line 36 times, their most since making 41 trips in a win over Manhattan on December 5, 2018 (203 games).
- Stony Brook earned its eighth all-time win over Hofstra and for the second time in program history has picked up back-to-back victories over the Pride (2002, 2003).
QUOTES FROM THE SEAWOLVES
"I thought it was a hard-fought game and both teams played well. We've been playing well for, I think, five games in a row, and we've only won two of them. The schedule has flipped and we've caught a bunch of good teams, several of them on the road, and come up short. Today, we were able to make some plays. CJ made some big shots and Snoddy was elite. Dre was fantastic and willed us to the win," head coach Geno Ford noted postgame.
"Collin, a freshman point guard on the road in a rivalry game, had six assists and no turnovers. There's a lot that goes into winning and we needed all of it because it was a game that could've gone either way," Ford added.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook returns home to host Monmouth on Thursday, February 13 in the first nationally televised home game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 pm at Stony Brook Arena and will air nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
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