The Stony Brook men's basketball team battled back from an 11-point deficit to Albany in the second half to get within one, but ultimately fell to the Great Danes 52-50 Monday at Pritchard Gymnasium in Stony Brook, N.Y.
In the defeat, Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.), the America East Player of the Game for Stony Brook, became the 21st player in Stony Brook history to score 1,000 career points. He is also only the fourth Seawolves player in the Division I era to reach the milestone. He finished the game with 20 points.
"Every game is a grind for us, and tonight we didn't execute enough to win," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We had an offensive drought, but we played solid defense to give ourselves the chance to win; we didn't make the shots at the end."
After the two teams played a back-and-forth first half that settled into a 33-33 halftime score, the Great Danes came out firing three-pointers. After a Tim Ambrose three-point play opened the half, Mike Black drained a three at 17:49 and Logan Aronhalt knocked down a triple at 16:07 to open up a seven-point Albany advantage. Ambrose's layup at 13:41 capped a 15-4 Great Danes run and made the score 48-37.
Stony Brook went scoreless for five minutes before Danny Carter (Windsor, England) ended the drought with a three-pointer at 10:45 to close within eight, but Ambrose came right back with a three-pointer of his own at 9:46 to put Albany back on top by 11, 51-40.
However, that was the last basket Albany would score in the game as the Seawolves cranked up the defense. The Great Danes went 0-for-7 from the field and committed six turnovers in the final 9:46 of the game. Meanwhile, Stony Brook came back as Dougher hit his fifth three-pointer of the game at 7:19 and then his sixth of the game, matching a season high, at 3:54 to close within five, 51-46. That trifecta also put Dougher over the 1,000-point mark for his career.
Albany missed three free throws to keep the game a five-point deficit, and then Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) made a big play with a outback off of a Dougher miss to make it 51-48. After Ambrose turned the ball over, Dougher came right back and sank a jumper off a perfect screen from Carter to make it a one-point game, 51-50.
Ambrose missed a shot at 1:03, and Carter came up with the carom to give the Seawolves possession. Stony Brook ran an alley oop play for Preye Preboye (Springfield, Mass.), but he couldn't handle the pass from Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.). His shot was blocked by Albany's John Puk. Rouse grabbed the rebound and shot a jumper, but that clanked off the rim. Stony Brook then fouled to send Puk to the line. Puk made his first free throw attempt, but missed the second, but Albany's Luke Devlin pushed his way through the lane to get the offensive rebound. He was fouled, but he too missed a free throw, and Preboye grabbed the board, leaving 11 seconds on the clock for the Seawolves.
On the game's final play, Dougher missed a three-pointer that would have won the contest.
Stony Brook finished the game shooting 37 percent from the field, but was only 7-for-26 in the second half. The Seawolves were woeful from the free throw line making only one of seven attempts.
Albany shot 36 percent from the game and was 8-for-14 from the charity stripe. The Great Danes outrebounded Stony Brook 45-29. Albany committed 19 turnovers that turned into 20 SBU points. Ambrose led Albany with 15 points and 14 rebounds, earning America East Player of the Game honors.
Stony Brook will hit the road for two games at the end of the week, taking on Boston University Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Maine Saturday at 7 p.m.
