STONY BROOK Men's Hoops Routs Mount Ida In Home-Opener, 93-39

Brenton sharp as Seawolves dominate

       




The fans in Pritchard Gymnasium shrieked in midseason form Sunday as the Seawolves took the court for their first home game of the season.
The ever-loud crowd, always appreciated by the basketball team at Stony Brook University, was a welcome sound for junior forward Tommy Brenton, who sat out last season with a dislocated kneecap.
"It feels good to get the love again,'' Brenton said after Stony Brook defeated Mount Ida, 93-39. The Division III team from Newton, Mass., wasn't expected to give Stony Brook much of a game, but the Seawolves (1-1) gladly took the positives after a 30-point loss to Indiana

two days earlier.
Brenton had 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in 27 minutes. That topped a long list of successful performances, including Ron Bracey (16 points, seven rebounds), Bryan Dougher (15 points), Dave Coley (11 points, seven rebounds), Al Rapier (nine points, seven rebounds), Dallis Joyner (eight points, 11 rebounds) and Anthony Jackson (eight points).
"Our best attribute as a team is depth,'' Dougher said. "Everyone seems talented. We almost have interchangeable parts.''
Brenton tested the knee with a spin move in the lane in the second half. "It feels normal,'' he said. "Just a little ice after, but I've been doing that for years now.''
Brenton already was near double-double territory by halftime, with eight points and seven rebounds as the Seawolves took a 44-24 lead.
"He does so many things well,'' Dougher said. "He just has a huge impact on the game, offensively and defensively.''
And, Steve Pikiell said, Brenton is exceptional in that he makes players around him better. "He helps Dallis, he helps Al score in the post, he helps Bryan get open,'' the coach said.
Pikiell expects even more from Brenton as the season progresses. "He's not in good shape yet, he's really not,'' he said. "That's why these games are important for him; that's why I wanted him to log minutes. He's not in the kind of shape that he'll be in eventually. Twelve months off, he didn't run, he didn't do anything. Hopefully, he'll get into better shape as we progress toward the league season.''
Stony Brook shot 55.1 percent from the field, with Dougher 4-for-6 from three-point range. The Seawolves had a 57-27 edge in rebounds and 24 assists.
"I don't care who you are playing,'' Pikiell said. "Every game tests you in a different way. I liked the way we played unselfish basketball.''
Notes & quotes:Pikiell said he decided not to play 6-9 senior Danny Carter, who was ejected Friday for a flagrant foul after he hit Indiana's Cody Zeller in the midsection.

Ron Bracey scored 16 points and Tommy Brenton notched a double-double

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Junior forward Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) recorded a double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds) and was just two assists short of a triple-double with eight as he led the Stony Brook men's basketball team to a 93-39 victory over Mount Ida Sunday in the Seawolves home opener at Pritchard Gymnasium.

The Seawolves shot 55.1 percent for the game, outrebounded the Mustangs 57-27 and had 24 assists to 16 turnovers. The 54-point margin of victory was the largest since beating the Mustangs 95-40 back in December 2009. The 24 assists were the most since having 21 vs. Northeastern in December 2004. Stony Brook had 27 second chance points and 28 points off of 19 Mount Ida turnovers.

Junior Ron Bracey (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Seawolves scorers with 16 points and was one of five players in double figures. Senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) added 15 and Brenton and sophomore Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) each had 11.

"I like the way our team played today," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We played defense, and I don't care who you play, you have to play defense to win games. We didn't do that the other night at Indiana but we did today. And I liked our offense. We had 24 assists and that really helped."

In the first half, it was an 11-11 tie and then the Seawolves were clinging to a two-point, 19-17 lead when Stony Brook soared past the Mustangs. Brenton cleaned up a Dougher miss with a rebound and layup, which started a 25-4 Seawolves run. Dougher hit a three and connected on a layup to extend the lead to nine. Later on, the team had a one-minute sequence that included layup and three from Coley and layups from Brenton and Rapier to make it 42-21. Stony Brook went into the break up 44-24.

In the second half, Brenton excited the crowd with a dunk off a steal from Coley that put SBU up 54-28. It was 54-21 after Keith Jones hit a three for Mount Ida, and then the Seawolves went on a 23-4 run, finished off by a three-pointer from junior Leonard Hayes and a pair of triples from Dougher, who connected on four three-pointers to push past the 250 mark for his career (253).

Stony Brook ended the game holding the Mustangs to just two field goals in the final eight minutes. Mount Ida shot only 22.4 percent for the game.

Stony Brook will finish its three-game, five-day stretch Tuesday at Sacred Heart at 7 p.m. The Seawolves' next home game takes place Tuesday, Nov. 22 vs. Columbia at 7 p.m. WUSB For tickets, call 631-632-WOLF or log on to GoSeawolves.org/tickets.