Junior guard Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored 12 of his game-high 15 points in the second half to lift Stony Brook to a 63-54 victory over Colgate Wednesday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,630 at Pritchard Gymnasium in Stony Brook, N.Y. In what was a true team effort, Dougher was one of nine Seawolves to score on the night, and five of the nine players had at least seven.
The Seawolves improve to 5-6 on the season and gain some momentum heading into conference play, which begins later this week. Colgate drops to 0-11 on the season.
"This was a great team effort tonight," said Seawolves head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We played strong defense and our leaders stepped up and made big plays at the end. It's nice to get this win and gain some momentum heading into conference play."
With the Seawolves up three, 53-50, with 2:35 remaining, Dougher connected on a 16-foot jumper as the shot clock was winding down to put the team up five. After a Colgate miss, the Seawolves used a minute of the clock as Dougher missed a three, Al Rapier grabbed an offensive rebound, and Dougher followed with a baseline jumper to give Stony Brook a seven-point advantage, 57-50, with 57 seconds left to play.
Dougher's efforts were the culmination of a strong Seawolves second half. After Colgate went on top 33-32 on Chad Johnson's jumper at 15:37, Stony Brook went on a 9-0 run to go up by eight points. Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) connected on a mid-range jumper and a layup to give SBU the lead. Preye Preboye (Springfield, Mass.) followed with a dunk off a Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) missed basket. Anthony Mayo (Philadelphia, Pa.) then capped the run with a three-point play after a strong push to the basket. The Seawolves led 41-33.
Colgate got within two, 51-49, after Yaw Gyawu's layup at 5:06, but Stony Brook clamped down on defense, holding the Raiders to just five points and 1-for-10 shooting the rest of the game.
Stony Brook shot 42 percent (24-for-57) from the field and only 52 percent (12-for-23) from the free throw line. Colgate shot 40 percent (20-for-50) for the game, but was held to 36 percent (10-for-28) in the second half, and the Raiders made just one of their last 10 shots in the game.
Pat Moore and Yaw Gyawu led the Raiders with 13 points apiece. In addition to Dougher's 15, Mayo added a career-high 10 points, and Joyner chipped in eight. Stony Brook took advantage of 16 Colgate turnovers that turned into 17 Seawolves points.
Stony Brook now turns its attention to America East competition as it begins defense of its 2009-10 regular season championship beginning Sunday, Jan. 2, at UMBC at 5 p.m. Two days later, Jan. 4, the Seawolves will host Vermont at Pritchard Gymnasium at 7 p.m. For tickets, call (631) 632-WOLF or visit the Stony Brook Athletics online ticket office.
