Men's Basketball Rallies Late But Falls to American, 56-53
Freshman Tommy Brenton records 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Stony Brook, N.Y. - Sophomore Chris Martin's (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) potential game-tying three pointer with two seconds left just missed as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 56-53 decision to the American Eagles on Tuesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Freshman Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) led Stony Brook with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Seawolves drop to 1-3 with the loss while the Eagles improve to 4-1.
"I'm extremely proud of the energy and effort our players showed tonight," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We played some excellent basketball against a terrific American team and unfortunately they just made a few more plays than we did down the stretch."
Brenton, the two-time America East Player of the week and America East Player of the Game, was terrific again for SBU as he recorded his second straight double-double. Martin finished with 10 points, including seven in the second half, for Stony Brook who shot a season-high 46.5 percent from the field.
Trailing 50-42 with 5:33 remaining, the Seawolves rallied back as Brenton hit a tough jumper in the lane and then grabbed an offensive rebound on Stony Brook's next possession to set up a three-pointer from freshman Bryan Dougher (Scotch-Plains, N.J.) that cut the Eagles lead to three.
Nick Hendra hit two free throws with 2:38 remaining to push the American lead back to five but Brenton once again had an answer as he put back his own miss on the Seawolves next possession to make it 52-49 with 2:14 left. A Garrison Carr jumper put the Eagles back up five less than a minute later but Martin hit a driving lay-up on SBU's ensuing possession to cut the Seawolves deficit back to three.
The teams then traded misses before Brenton scored on put-back with 17 seconds remaining to make it 54-53. Carr hit two free throws on the other end with 13 second left, giving the Seawolves one last chance to tie it. SBU brought it down court and worked it to Martin, whose three just missed as SBU dropped its third straight game.
SBU got off to a terrific start as junior Jonathan Moore (Cleveland, Ohio) hit two early three-pointers to give the Seawolves an 8-3 lead just under three minutes into the game. SBU would take its largest lead of the game at 17-11 on a three-point play from Brenton with 11:27 left in the first half. The Eagles had an answer though, going on a 13-2 run to take a 24-19 lead with 7:14 to go in the opening period. The Seawolves answered with four straight points though to cut their deficit to one and went into the break down just three at 29-26.
SBU shot 52.6 percent in the opening half as eight different players scored. American was led in the first half by Frane Markusovic's nine points.
Stony Brook would tie the game at 31-all early in the second half but the Eagles then scored seven of the next eight points to take a 38-32 lead with 12:28 to go. The Seawolves cut their deficit to as few as three at 43-40 with 9:09 left on a Brenton free throw but the Eagles then went on a 7-1 run to take the 50-42 lead with 5:33 left on a Hendra lay-up.
Hendra scored a team-high 16 points for the Eagles who also got 13 points from Markusovic. The Seawolves held Carr, who entered the game averaging 23.0 points per game, to just 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting.
The Seawolves return to action on Saturday afternoon, traveling to take on the Columbia Lions. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
Freshman Tommy Brenton records 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Stony Brook, N.Y. - Sophomore Chris Martin's (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) potential game-tying three pointer with two seconds left just missed as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 56-53 decision to the American Eagles on Tuesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Freshman Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) led Stony Brook with 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Seawolves drop to 1-3 with the loss while the Eagles improve to 4-1.
"I'm extremely proud of the energy and effort our players showed tonight," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We played some excellent basketball against a terrific American team and unfortunately they just made a few more plays than we did down the stretch."
Brenton, the two-time America East Player of the week and America East Player of the Game, was terrific again for SBU as he recorded his second straight double-double. Martin finished with 10 points, including seven in the second half, for Stony Brook who shot a season-high 46.5 percent from the field.
Trailing 50-42 with 5:33 remaining, the Seawolves rallied back as Brenton hit a tough jumper in the lane and then grabbed an offensive rebound on Stony Brook's next possession to set up a three-pointer from freshman Bryan Dougher (Scotch-Plains, N.J.) that cut the Eagles lead to three.
Nick Hendra hit two free throws with 2:38 remaining to push the American lead back to five but Brenton once again had an answer as he put back his own miss on the Seawolves next possession to make it 52-49 with 2:14 left. A Garrison Carr jumper put the Eagles back up five less than a minute later but Martin hit a driving lay-up on SBU's ensuing possession to cut the Seawolves deficit back to three.
The teams then traded misses before Brenton scored on put-back with 17 seconds remaining to make it 54-53. Carr hit two free throws on the other end with 13 second left, giving the Seawolves one last chance to tie it. SBU brought it down court and worked it to Martin, whose three just missed as SBU dropped its third straight game.
SBU got off to a terrific start as junior Jonathan Moore (Cleveland, Ohio) hit two early three-pointers to give the Seawolves an 8-3 lead just under three minutes into the game. SBU would take its largest lead of the game at 17-11 on a three-point play from Brenton with 11:27 left in the first half. The Eagles had an answer though, going on a 13-2 run to take a 24-19 lead with 7:14 to go in the opening period. The Seawolves answered with four straight points though to cut their deficit to one and went into the break down just three at 29-26.
SBU shot 52.6 percent in the opening half as eight different players scored. American was led in the first half by Frane Markusovic's nine points.
Stony Brook would tie the game at 31-all early in the second half but the Eagles then scored seven of the next eight points to take a 38-32 lead with 12:28 to go. The Seawolves cut their deficit to as few as three at 43-40 with 9:09 left on a Brenton free throw but the Eagles then went on a 7-1 run to take the 50-42 lead with 5:33 left on a Hendra lay-up.
Hendra scored a team-high 16 points for the Eagles who also got 13 points from Markusovic. The Seawolves held Carr, who entered the game averaging 23.0 points per game, to just 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting.
The Seawolves return to action on Saturday afternoon, traveling to take on the Columbia Lions. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
