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Et tu, Brute?
Since 6:41 remained in the first half, Stony Brook had not been behind in yesterday's ESPN BracketBuster game against Manhattan. But with the score tied and a minute left in overtime, the ball went to Manhattan's Kidani Brutus just outside the three-point arc on the right side.
Shakespearean drama in short pants: And you, Brutus?
The Bronx junior's nothing-but-net three-pointer mortally stabbed Stony Brook, sealing Manhattan's 64-63 victory. The Seawolves' loss was capped by the ultimate betrayal of poor free-throw shooting throughout the game and two crucial missed layups; in a microcosm of that, Marcus Rouse converted only two of three free throws with 44 seconds left and Bryan Dougher missed a driving layup at the buzzer.
"Can't remember'' the last time he hit a game-winner, Brutus acknowledged.
"Nintendo,'' kidded his coach, Barry Rohrssen. "He may be the PlayStation champion.''
"I am,'' agreed Brutus, who shot 7-for-9 from three-point range and had 25 points in a matchup with far more histrionics than might be expected from two struggling teams.
Both Stony Brook (11-16) and Manhattan (6-22) have spent the season battered by injuries and inexperience, but all that fell on deaf ears inside the close quarters of Pritchard Gym, a chamber of racket prone to leave all in attendance with impaired hearing. "Loud building,'' Rohrssen said. "Loud, loud building. We were having a difficult time trying to communicate with our team.''
Still, trailing 45-34 with just over nine minutes left, Manhattan was able to scramble back and quiet the storm. Brutus hit two three-pointers during the run, and his short jumper with 1:55 left tied the score at 55.
Stony Brook's Danny Carter missed a three-pointer, but Preye Preboye took the long rebound, leading to Dougher's converted floater to take back the lead at 57-55. That sequence fit the day's theme: Though Stony Brook's inaccurate shooting (35.6 percent for the game) repeatedly sounded fire alarms, its rebounders were ideal first responders. Stony Brook won the board battle, 43-32.
But Manhattan sophomore George Beamon, a former All-Long Island guard from Roslyn who had 23 points, slashed to the basket and banked in a jumper to tie the score with 31 seconds left.
Left with an inbounds play from near midcourt with two seconds to go, Stony Brook's Leonard Hayes lofted a perfect alley-oop pass to Preboye, but his layup wouldn't stay down.
A logical time to recall - as Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell did after the game - how Stony Brook had missed seven of its 10 free-throw attempts down the stretch, finishing 15-for-27.
In overtime, Carter's follow shot and Dallis Joyner's layup quickly put Stony Brook ahead by four, but Brutus bookended two more three-pointers around a free throw by Demetrius Jemison for a 64-61 lead.
Stony Brook, meanwhile, turned the ball over three times in the extra period, another figurative knife in Pikiell's heart. When Rouse, fouled as he attempted a three-pointer with 45 seconds left, missed the middle of his three free throws, Stony Brook was left only with Dougher's last-ditch failed layup.
Rouse's 15 and Dougher's 11 points led Stony Brook, and Joyner and Carter took eight rebounds each. "Not enough,'' Pikiell lamented. "Not enough.''
