The wild game featured 25 three-pointers, 17 lead changes and four ties. With the win, the Seawolves have clinched the No. 5 seed in next week's America East Tournament and have improved to 12-16 overall, 7-8 in the league. Stony Brook will play No. 4 Albany in the quarterfinals next Saturday, March 5 at 12 p.m. Hartford drops into a sixth-place tie with New Hampshire at 6-9 and is 9-19 overall. Dougher was named America East Player of the Game for his team-high 17 points. Joe Zeglinski was Hartford's America East Player of the game for scoring a game-high 24 points.
Stony Brook shot a season-high 50 percent and made 10 three-pointers in the game. The Seawolves had a season-high 17 assists to just 12 turnovers and was 15-for-20 from the free throw line. Hartford attempted 44 three-pointers and made 15 of them, but was only 6-for-13 from the line.
"We were fortunate to come away with a victory tonight," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "Both teams played a great game, and we wouldn't have won tonight without some big plays from Bryan Dougher, Dallis Joyner and our freshmen Anthony Jackson and Eric McAlister."
The wild game seemingly shifted in Hartford's favor with 6:00 left in the second half as Morgan Sabia hit a three-pointer to put the Hawks up 10 points, 57-47. The Seawolves persevered and fought back by chipping away at the lead. Danny Carter (Windsor, England) hit a soft jump hook to end Hartford's run. Then Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) hit a wide-open three-pointer to cut it to five. After Dougher stole a pass, Jackson came back down and hit a runner down the baseline to make it a three-point game, 57-54, with 4:16 left.
Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) hit a pair of free throws, and then dished a pass to Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.), who put the Seawolves up with a layup. The teams traded the lead twice before Hartford's Ryan Baker had a outback layup to make it 61-60 Hartford with 1:13 to play, the 11th lead change of the second half alone.
Carter missed a pair of free throws, forcing SBU to foul. Zeglinski missed the 1-and-1, but the rebound kicked out to Hartford, forcing another foul. This time, Milton Burton sank both shots to put Hartford up 63-60.
With a chance to tie, Jackson missed a three-pointer, but Dougher grabbed the loose rebound near the corner. He swung the ball to Jackson, who dribbled in once, but then found a wide-open Leonard Hayes (Voorhees, N.J.), who drilled home the tying three-pointer to make it 63-63 and send the game to overtime.
Hartford was up two, 67-65, with 3:18 left in OT when Dougher took over the game. He buried a three-pointer at 2:37 to put SBU up one. Then he stole the ball from Burton and came back with a leaner to go up three. A missed Hartford layup put the ball back in Dougher's hands, and this time he drove down the baseline and nailed a runner over Zeglinski to make it five-point SBU lead. He capped his personal 9-0 run with a pair of free throws to make it 74-67 with 46 seconds left.
In the game's final minute, Stony Brook hit seven of eight free throw attempts to ice the win.
Besides Dougher's 17 points, four other Seawolves scored in double figures. Carter and Hayes each had 14 points. Jackson chipped in 10 points and a career-high seven assists. McAlister contributed 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting both from the field and the line.
Stony Brook will wrap up the regular season Sunday in a home contest against Binghamton at Pritchard Gymnasium at 2 pm. It will be Senior Day, and the Seawolves will honor Chris Martin prior to the contest. Only limited tickets are available for purchase. Call (631) 632-WOLF for more information.
