Bryan Dougher scored 20 points, all after halftime, to lead the Stony Brook men's basketball team to a 71-69 overtime victory over Maine in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,423 at Stony Brook Arena. The game was nationally televised on ESPNU and was part of Seawolves Winterfest 2011.
The Seawolves have now won back-to-back games and improve to 11-14 overall, 6-7 in America East and have a momentary hold on fourth place. The Seawolves are also now 2-1 in overtime. Maine has dropped its fourth straight game and falls to 14-11 overall, 8-5 in America East.
Leonard Hayes (Voorhees, N.J.) was named Stony Brook's America East Player of the Game for his 16 points, including six of SBU's 12 points in overtime. Maine's Troy Barnies picks up America East Player of the Game honors for his 18-point, 15-rebound performance.
"I want to thank everyone who came out to our game today," head coach Steve Pikiell. "It was a tremendous crowd, and it was a proud day to be a member of the Stony Brook community. We played a great game, battled some adversity and fought back. I'm proud of our defensive effort against the best offense in the league. We're starting to play better, and I like the direction we're headed in."
Stony Brook and Maine battled for the entire game as the teams combined for six ties and seven lead changes. The Black Bears got out to a 14-2 start that included six points from Barnies and a wide open layup by Alasdair Fraser that forced a Stony Brook timeout.The Seawolves battled back on a flurry of three-pointers. Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) knocked down a pair, including an open look from the top of the key at 5:50 to give Stony Brook its first lead of the game, 24-22. The teams traded the lead twice more before Danny Carter's (Windsor, England) tip-in sent the Seawolves into the locker room with a 34-33 lead.
Stony Brook went on a 17-8 run to open the second half as Dougher finally got on the scoreboard with a three-pointer at 16:14 and followed with a driving layup and teardrop on back-to-back possessions that was sandwiched by a Carter block of Barnies. Dougher's three-pointer at 9:35 sent the crowd into a frenzy and gave SBU a 51-41 lead.
However, Maine battled back to get the game tied at 57-57 after Sean McNally took a feed from Gerald McLemore for an open layup with 3:01 on the clock. Hayes turned the ball over, but McLemore missed his jumper, giving SBU possession. Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) then drew a shooting foul after grabbing his own miss. Although he is a 40 percent free throw shooter, Joyner calmly sank both free throws to give the Seawolves a 59-57 lead. Two possessions later, Barnies got around his defender for a layup to once again tie the game with 32 seconds left. Dougher missed a game-winning three-pointer to send the game to overtime.
Hayes then took over in overtime with back-to-back buckets, a three-pointer at 4:30 and 3:08 to give Stony Brook a 64-61 lead. Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) extended that lead to six with a pair of free throws. Maine fought back with free throws to get to one point, 66-65, with 1:37 left.
The critical play came from Joyner, who grabbed Dougher's three-point miss for an offensive rebound. After an SBU timeout, Dougher then scurried to the hoop and connected on a teardrop to put the Seawolves up three, 68-65.
Maine's Terrance Mitchell was then called for a charge on Joyner, and the Seawolves finished off the Black Bears with free throws.
Stony Brook shot 38.2 percent for the game and hit 11 three-pointers for the third time this season. The Seawolves outrebounded Maine 40-34 and had 14 offensive boards that led to 17 second chance points. Maine shot 41.2 percent for the game and was 22-for-27 from the free throw line. Stony Brook only had 10 free throw attempts, but made eight. It was the first time this season Stony Brook won a game in which it took fewer free throw attempts than its opponent.
In addition to Dougher's 20 and Hayes' 16, Carter added 12 points and three assists. Joyner finished with 10 rebounds. For Maine, McLemore led all scorers with 23 points and made all 10 of his free throws.
Stony Brook has a quick turnaround as it will play at Albany Monday night at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on MSG-Plus with Eric Frede and Frank Sullivan. The two teams are separated by just a half game in the standings.
