Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) connected on a pair of critical three-pointers late in the game as part of a 19-point night as he lifted the Stony Brook men's basketball team to a 69-59 victory over UMBC Monday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Dougher hit five three-pointers on the night to tie him with Josh Little (1997-01) for Stony Brook's all-time lead in three-pointers made with 221.
The Seawolves have now won two straight and improve to 9-12 on the season, 4-5 in America East. UMBC slips to 3-19 overall and 2-7 in America East.
"We made some big plays down the stretch and held them without a field goal for the last five minutes," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "I like the way we played defense, and we held another team under 60 points."
Stony Brook had let an 11-point second-half lead slip away as UMBC went on a 21-7 lead, capped by Chris De La Rosa's three free throws at 8:56, to take a 56-53 advantage.
However, UMBC only scored three points the rest of the game. A critical point came at the 3:55 mark when De La Rosa stole the ball from Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.), but missed a wide-open layup, allowing the Seawolves to maintain a 59-58 lead.
Both teams missed shots until Dougher took over at the end. With 2:11 left in the game, he sank an open three-pointer to put the Seawolves up five, 63-58. After UMBC's Brian Neller missed a three-pointer, Dougher took control of the ball and with the shot clock at three seconds, drilled home another three-pointer, igniting the Pritchard Gym crowd and giving Stony Brook a 66-58 lead with 1:03 to play.
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UMBC ended up missing its final eight shots, including a flurry of three-point attempts towards the end as the Retrievers tried to catch up. UMBC ended up shooting 30 percent (18-for-60) for the game and 25 percent (7-for-28) from three-point range, as the Seawolves, who rank in the top 50 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, continue to hold opponents under 40 percent shooting.
Chase Plummer led UMBC with 13 points and 11 rebounds to earn America East Player of the Game honors. De La Rosa added 12 points and five assists.
Dougher led the Seawolves with 19 points and added three assists, a block and a steal to earn America East Player of the Game honors. Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) added 12 points, three assists and two blocks. Freshman Eric McAlister (Hightstown, N.J.) scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from the free throw line. Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) was a big presence in the post, grabbing 12 rebounds as Stony Brook outrebounded UMBC 41-36.
The Seawolves shot 42 percent for the game and was 19-for-31 (61.3 percent) from the free throw line.
Stony Brook will cap its three-game homestand Friday night against Boston University at Pritchard Gymnasium at 7 p.m.
