STONY BROOK has little trouble beating Rider

By MARCUS HENRY marcus.henry@newsday.com
There's nothing like a little home-court cooking to get a team going.
Stony Brook concluded its non-conference schedule Friday night with a 79-62 win over Rider at Pritchard Gymnasium. It was the second straight victory for the Seawolves (5-6) and their sixth consecutive home win dating to last season.
Protecting the home court has become a big part of the process for Stony Brook.
"That's one of our goals going into the season," said coach Steve Pikiell, whose team took a 34-14 lead late in the first half and never let Rider get closer than eight points after that. "We want to make this a tough place to play, and hopefully, Monday will be the toughest day to play here."
Stony Brook, which finished 7-7 at home last season, opens America East Conference play against Vermont on Monday night at Pritchard.
Dave Coley had 16 points, Dallis Joyner 15, Bryan Dougher 14 and Al Rapier 12 for Stony Brook. Tommy Brenton added nine points and 12 rebounds. Jeff Jones had 17 points for Rider (3-11).
"I think I'm taking my time," said Coley, who's reached double figures in four of his last five games. "Last year, I was new to the system [and] I was in a hurry. I came from a high school [Thomas Jefferson in Brooklyn] where they run up and down like it's nothing."
Stony Brook took a 41-22 lead with 18:04 left in the second half on Joyner's two free throws. Rider cut the deficit to 61-53 on a three-pointer by Jones, but Rapier had eight points as Stony Brook moved ahead 75-59. "I told them before the game we'd score plenty of points," Pikiell said. "We just had to defend."
The Seawolves built a 37-19 halftime lead and took care of the ball with a season-low seven turnovers. They had taken a 20-point lead over Cornell late in the first half Wednesday night but fell behind in the final minute of regulation before winning in overtime. This time, they weren't threatened.
For Joyner, it was a far cry from his performance Wednesday night, when the 6-7 senior went scoreless in 21 minutes.
"We knew against that zone, I could get my angles and score," he said. "Last game, I didn't even get a shot attempt. I just knew I had to stay positive . . . Points will come and shots will come."

STONY BROOK lights up Rider, 79-62

The Stony Brook men's basketball team shot 49 percent for the game and had four players in double figures as the Seawolves withstood a barrage of Rider three-pointers in the second half to defeat the Broncs 79-62 Friday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Stony Brook has now won six straight home games, dating back to last season.

Sophomore Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led the Seawolves with 16 points. Senior Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) added 15 points, senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored 14 points, and senior Al Rapier put in 12 points. Jeff Jones led Rider with 17 points as the Broncs connected on 12 three-pointers, eight in the second half, to stay within striking distance of the Seawolves.

"I really like the way we played tonight," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "I thought our defense did a great job forcing bad shots and turnovers in the first half. In the second half, you could see how talented Rider was, but every time they scored, we scored. This was a nice win for our team heading into conference play, which will be a challenge for us."

Stony Brook (5-6) dominated the first half as Rider (3-11) played sloppy basketball. The Seawolves forced 10 Broncs turnovers that turned into nine points while turning the ball over only once themselves.

The Seawolves jumped out to a 14-4 lead early on after junior Leonard Hayes (Voorhees, N.J.) drilled a three-pointer. The Broncs closed the lead to four with an 8-0 run, but Stony Brook responded with a 20-2 run that was capped by a sophomore Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) three-pointer to make it 34-14.

Stony Brook went into halftime leading 37-19 after Brenton ended the half with a layup.

In the second half, Stony Brook carried the momentum early with four big points from Joyner, who took a pass from Rapier after a steal and hit a layup and drew an intentional foul from Jonathon Thompson. Joyner made both free throws for a four-point play to put SBU on top 41-22.

Rider then went off on the Seawolves with three-pointers. The Seawolves lead was 16, 52-36, with 11:15 left in the game when the Broncs started hitting their shots. Jones drilled a three that Coley answered with a layup, but Rider's Eddie Mitchell came right back down the floor and hit a three to make it a 12-point game.

Jones followed with another three-pointer at 8:55, and Novar Gadson took advantage of an SBU turnover to make a layup and make it a nine-point game, 56-47.

Jones nailed another three-pointer to make it an eight-point game, 61-53, but that was as close as Rider would get. Coming out of a timeout, Rapier drove to the basket and laid up over his defender for a basket to make it a 10-point game again.

Rapier then put the game away with another layup under the basket with 1:49 to play to make it 71-59 as Rider missed six of its last seven three-point attempts and finished 12-for-27 for the game. Stony Brook made all six of its free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.

Stony Brook shot 49% for the game although it was only 7-for-21 from behind the arc. The Seawolves also outrebounded Rider, 35-28, and went to the free throw line more than twice the amount the Broncs did (23-11). The Seawolves committed a season-low seven turnovers.

Stony Brook now enters the critical part of its schedule as it opens America East play Monday against Vermont at Pritchard Gymnasium at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on Optimum Local Channel 118. For tickets, call (631) 632-WOLF or log on to GoSeawolves.org/tickets.

Stony Brook beats Cornell in overtime

Over the past two seasons, Stony Brook has established a trend of playing well in big games only to be undermined by shooting droughts. A case in point was last season's America East final when the Seawolves were tied or ahead for all but the final two seconds before losing an NCAA berth.
For much of the second half against Cornell Wednesday night, it seemed the pattern was repeating, much to the consternation of a Pritchard Gymnasium sellout crowd of 1,630. A 20-point SBU lead late in the first half shrank to 15 at the break and then gradually eroded over the course of the second half until the Seawolves had to come from behind to force overtime on a Ron Bracey layup that tied the score at 51.
But after scoring only 16 points in the second half on 27.3-percent shooting, Stony Brook exploded for 17 points in overtime to pull away for a 68-59 victory over the Big Red of the Ivy League. The key seemed to be hanging tough and working at defense and rebounding until the ball started going in the basket again.
"Heart," Bracey said. "We stayed in there and went for it."
"I wasn't going to let my team lose this game," said forward Tommy Brenton, who played a huge role with 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals and some tough defense on Cornell's Drew Ferry, who had 15 points on 5-for-12 shooting from three-point range, including the three with 1:17 left in regulation that gave the Big Red a short-lived 51-49 lead.
The box score looked just fine at the end for the Seawolves (4-6) with Bracey and Bryan Dougher each scoring 16 points and Dave Coley adding 10, including six in overtime. Stony Brook won the rebounding battle 40-32, and coach Steve Pikiell was pleased that guard Chris Wroblewski, who scored a career-high 29 in a win over the Seawolves last season, was held to five points. Cornell (4-7) came in with wins over three other America East teams and a four-point loss to No. 24 Illinois, so this was a quality win.
"Cornell is good," Pikiell said. "They have two guards who started for the Sweet 16 team [in 2010], and they almost beat Illinois. I was pleased with our defense. That was Cornell's low points in regulation this year."
Brenton left the game with his fourth foul with 6:57 left in regulation, but Pikiell brought him back just over a minute later when the going got tough. Ferry hit a couple big threes, but he missed his final shot in regulation and two more in OT when Brenton scored seven points.
"We don't lose at home," Brenton said. "We're trying to go undefeated at home."

Ron Bracey gets into Seawolves' mix

                                                                             

Photo credit: Dave Anderson

 By Greg Logan

Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell likes to say he doesn't worry about points as much as defense and rebounding, but this season's team has shown on several occasions that it is offensively challenged. After putting together a terrific first half Wednesday night against Cornell, the Seawolves lost a 15-point halftime lead, scored only 16 points in the second half and had to make the last basket of regulation to reach overtime.
But they pulled it together in the five-minute extra session with 17 points to take a 68-59 victory over the Big Red that should provide a big boost before facing a tough Rider team on Friday at Pritchard Gym in the final outing before America East play begins against Vermont at home on Monday. One of the keys to the Seawolves' good stretches of offense was the contribution of juco transfer Ron Bracey.
His 16-point game equaled that of leading scorer Bryan Dougher and underlined how much better the Seawolves (4-6) are when Dougher has an effective complement on offense. In fact, the offense virtually ebbed and flowed with Bracey, who had 10 points in the first half, went cold in the second before scoring the game-tying bucket near the end of regulation and then made a fast-break layup to break the Cornell press in OT and added two foul shots with 22.4 seconds left to salt it away.
"I was in the flow of things," said Bracey, who went scoreless in four games earlier this season when he was restricted to single-digit minutes. "I'm trying to contribute."
Part of the adjustment for Bracey has been getting used to Pikiell's demands on defense and knowing where to be on offense. It's not a matter of effort, just learning the system.
"It's been difficult," Bracey admitted. "There's more detail."
Against Cornell, Bracey was fifth on the team with 22 minutes played, and he made the most of hit, making 6 of 14 shots and bringing down eight rebounds to tie Tommy Brenton for the team lead. He also went hard on defense.
"Ron led us in rebounding, which is awesome," Pikiell said. "It tells me he wants to play. He was aggressive to score, and he's learning on defense. If he rebounds, he'll play."
Pikiell will continue to live and die with defense and rebounding, but after the Cornell win, he also mentioned that he wants this Seawolves team to start taking fewer three-point shots and look to attack the basket more. Bracey can do that, and if he continues to be effective, he's going to find himself gaining playing time as America East play moves along.

Stony Brook pulls out 68-59 overtime win vs. Cornell

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Junior Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) scored seven of his 12 points in overtime as the Stony Brook men's basketball team scored eight of the extra period's first nine points to pull out a 68-59 victory over the Cornell Big Red before a sellout crowd at Pritchard Gymnasium on Wednesday night. 


Brenton went 10-for-14 from the foul line and pulled down eight rebounds to go with three steals. Senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) and junior Ron Bracey (Cincinnati, Ohio) led the Seawolves with 16 points apiece while sophomore Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with 10. 



"I was very pleased with our defense tonight," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "A lot of guys contributed to this victory. They did a great job of hanging tough against a good Cornell team."



Stony Brook (4-6) led 49-38 with 6:34 left in regulation following a free throw from senior Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.) but Cornell (4-7) ran off 13 straight points over the next five minutes, taking a 51-49 lead on a Drew Ferry three with 1:18 left. 



Bracey tied the game off a feed from Rapier with 57 seconds left and SBU forced a Ferry miss on Cornell's ensuing possession. Galal Cancer grabbed the rebound though and the Big Red called timeout with 36 seconds to go. 



Senior Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) forced Cancer to miss a short jumper with three seconds left and then grabbed the rebound as the game headed to overtime. 


The Seawolves never trailed in the overtime period as Brenton hit two free throws on Stony Brook's first possession and Coley then drilled a jumper with 3:27 left to push the lead to four. 


Cornell's Eitan Chemerinski hit one of two free throws with 2:52 remaining to make it 55-52 but Stony Brook then ran off six straight points capped by Coley's steal and lay-up to go up eight with under two minutes left. 

Cornell got no closer than five the rest of the way as the Seawolves improved to 4-0 at Pritchard Gymnasium. 



The teams battled evenly early, with Stony Brook holding an 8-7 advantage just over seven minutes in. 

But Stony Brook seized control of the game over the next eight minutes, out-scoring Cornell 19-2 to take a 27-9 lead. SBU hit five threes in the run including two each from Bracey and Dougher. 



The Big Red got within 29-15 on Shonn Miller dunk but Rapier answered with two free throws and Bracey and sophomore Eric McAlister (Hightstown, N.J.) followed with a pair of jumpers to push the Stony Brook lead to 20. 



Cornell scored the final five points of the half but Stony Brook still headed to the break with a 35-20 lead. SBU went 6-for-13 from three in the opening 20 minutes while forcing the Big Red to miss nine of their 10 attempts from beyond the arc. 



The Big Red scored six of first eight points of the second half to trim the Stony Brook lead to 11 before Dougher knocked down his third triple of the game to give the Seawolves a 40-26 lead. 

Cornell continued their hot shooting though as Ferry knocked down a triple before Dwight Tarwater answered a Rapier hoop with another three to trim the Stony Brook lead to 10 with 14:44 left. 



The Seawolves are right back in action on Friday, hosting Rider at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m. For tickets, call (631) 632-WOLF or visit GoSeawolves.org/tickets

STONY BROOK in Newsday's Top 11 2011 New York sports stories...

SBU reaches playoffs, and wins

Eight months after falling two points short of an NCAA basketball tournament bid, Stony Brook athletics continued its rapid rise when the football team defeated Liberty, 41-31, to win the Big South title and earn the school’s first FCS playoff berth.

It got even better a week later when the Seawolves beat Albany in a 31-28 thriller in the first round. Then they put a scare into top-ranked Sam Houston State before losing on the road, 34-27.

Stony Brook Women’s Hoops knocks off Youngstown State for second straight win

Stony Brook, N.Y. – Stony Brook University women’s basketball team led from start to finish on its way to a 54-47 victory over the Youngstown State Penguins on Tuesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. It was the second consecutive win for the Seawolves, who held YSU to 25.9 percent shooting.

“Tonight, like last Wednesday [against Morgan State], was a total team effort,” Stony Brook head coach Beth O’Boyle said. “We did a great job closing out on their shooters and our execution on the offensive end down the stretch was terrific. Hopefully we can carry the momentum from these last couple games to the start of conference play next week.”

Junior Dani Klupenger (Aurora, Ore.) led Stony Brook (3-10) with 11 points while senior Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.J.) chipped in with a season-high 10 points and six rebounds. Stony Brook held Youngstown State 16 points below their scoring average and snapped the Penguins five-game road winning strak.

The Seawolves led 43-38 with 7:30 remaining but YSU scored five of the next seven points to close within two with 4:14 left. But junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) hit one of two free throws with 4:01 left and junior Taylor Burner (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) followed with an easy lay-in to push the Stony Brook lead back to five.

Youngstown State crept back within three and it looked as if they would edge closer as Kelsea Fickiesen forced a Stony Brook turnover and appeared headed for an easy lay-up. But Murray poked the ball away from Fickiesen and SBU picked up the loose ball and called timeout.

Junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) then scored on a put-back on Stony Brook’s ensuing possession to put the game away. Previlon finished with nine points and nine rebounds and freshman Kellie Krueger (Wilsonville, Ore.) had eight points and eight rebounds.

SBU won the battle of the boards 44-35 and held YSU to 22.2 (6-for-27) shooting from three-point range. The Penguins entered the game averaging over eight threes per game.

Stony Brook controlled play right from the start, jumping out to a 20-11 lead behind seven early points from Previlon. The Seawolves hit eight of their first 14 shots and forced YSU to miss 18 of their first 22 field goal attempts including 12 of their first 13 shots from three.

Youngstown State answered back with a 10-3 run to get within 23-21 before Klupenger knocked down her second three of the half with under a left minute to push the SBU lead back to five.
Brandi Brown followed with two free throws for Youngstown as Stony Brook went into the break with a 26-23 lead.

SBU led 37-31 at the midway point of the second half following a short jumper from Murray before Brown converted a three-point play to trim the Seawolves lead to three.

Klupenger earned America East Player of the Game honors for the Seawolves. Brown led YSU with 12 points and 18 rebounds.
The Seawolves return to action on Monday, opening America East play at Vermont. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Krueger earns third straight America East Rookie of the Week award

Stony Brook, N.Y. – Freshman Kellie Krueger, of the Stony Brook University women’s basketball team, has been named America East Rookie of the Week, the conference office announced on Monday. It is the third straight week Krueger has earned the honor.
Krueger had a career-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds in the Seawolves 65-48 win over Morgan State on Wednesday. She hit five of her eight shots from the field and went 4-for-4 from the foul line in 27 minutes of action. 

Stony Brook returns to action on Tuesday, hosting Youngstown State at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM WUSB SPORTS

Coastal Carolina fires successful head coach for millionaire banker

By Graham Watson

Coastal Carolina has found the secret to constructing a successful football program: Find a head coach with the resources to singlehandedly build new facilities, buy new uniforms, court new sponsors, make the school more attractive to recruits and revitalize the entire operation. It's genius, if you can find a billionaire with limited coaching experience and nothing to do.
And that's what Coastal Carolina just did.
Joe Moglia, former CEO and current chairman of TD Ameritrade, was named the Chanticleers' new head coach Tuesday in a surprising but profitable move, to say the least. Moglia was the president and head coach of the UFL's Omaha Nighthawks and an unpaid "executive advisor" to coach Bo Pelini at Nebraska for the past two seasons. Prior to that, he was the defensive coordinator at Dartmouth… in 1983.
But what he lacks in background, he makes up in backing. When Moglia retired as the CEO of TD Ameritrade in 2008, he was making a salary of $21 million and held $100 million in Ameritrade stock. There are no NCAA regulations limiting how much the nation's wealthiest college coach can spend on the Coastal Carolina program either directly or through donations.
Essentially, Coastal Carolina is making a major return on its investment, which is exactly what athletic director Hunter Yurachek said he wasn't getting with former coach David Bennett, who was 7-4 this season and finished third in the Big South. Bennett is the only coach the Chanticleers have ever known and in his nine seasons, he posted a 63-39 record with four conference titles.
Moglia didn't exactly wow suitors with his coaching resumé. The Nighthawks were 1-5 last season, and Moglia spent more time dispensing investment advice to Nebraska draftees than doing any actual coaching with the Cornhuskers. However, the Nighthawks did lead the UFL in passing offense, sacks, tackles for loss, punt returns and blocked kicks. They also boasted the league's defensive player of the year.
Moglia also sports quite a few football-related accolades:

In 2010, Cornhusker football student-athletes elected Moglia to receive Nebraska's prestigious U.S. Grant Sharp Admiral's Trophy for Leadership and Service.
Moglia has been inducted into two high school halls of fame and the Omaha Business Hall of Fame while receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Columbus Citizens Foundation Leadership Award, National Italian American Foundation Special Achievement Award in Business, American Institute for Stuttering Lifetime Achievement Award and National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame's Man of the Year.
Moglia is the only person to publish books on both football and investing, including "The Key to Winning Football: The Perimeter Attack Offense" (1981) and "Coach Yourself to Financial Success: Winning the Investment Game" (2005), while contributing to numerous national football coaching journals. He has also been a keynote speaker at the 2011 American Football Coaches Association ("It's About Being a Leader") and 2010 National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics ("Leadership in a 24/7 Stress Filled Environment").

But it's a big risk dumping a proven commodity —and awesome soundbyte — like Bennett, who was given another undisclosed position on campus, to hire a coach who has more potential in his wallet than in his playbook.
Still, Coastal Carolina will look like geniuses if Moglia can remake the Chanticleers into an attractive commodity a la Oregon and Oklahoma State on the FBS level, which also have the financial backing of two of the world's wealthiest men in alums Phil Knight and T. Boone Pickens. If Moglia's investment in the program can lure some of the top FCS products and in turn make Coastal Carolina an FCS powerhouse, then CEOs with a passion for football might be leaving their position in droves to become the next great college football coaches.

Balanced Attack leads Stony Brook Women’s Hoops past Morgan State

Stony Brook, N.Y. – Freshman Kellie Krueger led a balanced Seawolves attack with a career-high 14 points and the Stony Brook University women's basketball team used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to defeat the Morgan State Lady Bears, 65-48, on Wednesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. Krueger added six rebounds for the Seawolves, who shot 40 percent from the field and went 7-for-15 from three. Junior Sam Landers (Springfield, Va.) chipped in with a season-high 13 points and junior Dani Klupenger (Aurora, Ore.) added 10 points and six rebounds.
Stony Brook (2-10) trailed 42-41 following a three from Omara Parker with 13:31 to go in the game but Landers answered with a three to kick start the decisive 12-0 run that gave SBU a 53-42 lead with 8:30 left. Landers had five points in the run.
The Lady Bears (2-7) got no closer than nine the rest of the way as SBU coasted to the 17-point victory. Stony Brook won the battle of the boards, 45-28 and went 18-for-24 from the foul line in addition to holding MSU to 32.2 percent shooting.
Morgan State jumped to a 9-4 lead but Stony Brook then went on a 15-4 run to take a 19-13 lead with 7:29 left in the first half. Krueger had four points in the run while Klupenger and Landers each knocked down a three.
The Lady Bears rallied to within 21-19 but Krueger answered with a foul line jumper and then knocked down two free throws to push the SBU lead back to six with four minutes remaining.

Morgan State rallied to tie the game at 25 but Stony Brook scored the final seven points of the half to take a 32-25 lead into the break.

MSU hit four of its first five shots of the second half, tying the game at 36 just over five minutes into the period. Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) answered with a long jumper though and Klupenger followed with her second three of the game.

Back-to-back Morgan State threes gave the Lady Bears a 42-41 lead but Landers responded with a three as Stony Brook scored the next 12 points to take a 53-42 with 8:30 left in the game.
The Seawolves bench out-scored Morgan's State 37-9 led by Landers and Klupenger. Senior Destiny Jacobs added eight points and nine rebounds.

Krueger earned America East Player of the Game honors for the Seawolves. Parker led the Lady Bears with 23 points.

Stony Brook returns to action next Tuesday, hosting Youngstown State at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

WATCH 2011 STONY BROOK FOOTBALL BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONS VIDEO

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Stony Brook falls to Rutgers at MSG (Newsday)

By MARK HERRMANN mark.herrmann@newsday.com

Photo credit: Errol Anderson | Dave Coley of Stony Brook is guarded by Jerome Seagears of Rutgers. (Dec. 17, 2011)

Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell knows as well as anyone that the sheer magnitude of Madison Square Garden can inspire big efforts. He scored 27 points for Connecticut in his first Big East Tournament game there in 1987. The problem for his team Saturday, though, was that the size of the opponent was more influential than the size of the venue.
Rutgers was just too big for the Seawolves in the Holiday Festival. Its frontcourt players barely allowed Stony Brook to breathe near the basket and its backcourt players put big pressure on Stony Brook's top three-point shooter, Bryan Dougher, in a 67-58 Rutgers win.
This nonetheless qualified as a big occasion for Stony Brook, which had not played at the Garden since 1995, when it was part of a Division III undercard with Western Connecticut. Stony Brook (3-6) clearly brought more spectators than did Rutgers (6-5). Its band had as much oomph as it usually does at tiny Pritchard Gymnasium.
"I thought it was a home game, with all the fans we had," said Tommy Brenton (11 points), whose 12 rebounds helped SBU outrebound Rutgers 40-34. "I felt right at home. It's an amazing arena. At first, you sit back and see where you are, during warm-ups, but once the game starts, it's a home game for us."
Not quite, in one big respect. On campus, the Seawolves generally do not shoot 26.7 percent from the floor or 29.2 percent from three-point range. Chalk it up as evidence of the difference between the America East and the Big East.
Rutgers held SBU scoreless for 7:33 in the first half. The Scarlet Knights clogged the middle against Dallis Joyner, who had only two points, and assigned their energetic young guards to pester Dougher, who missed his first seven three-point attempts and finished 3-for-13 from outside the arc and 4-for-17 overall in a 14-point game.
"He puts the batteries in that offense," Rutgers coach Mike Rice said. "We just focused in on making him put the ball on the floor. We threw different bodies at him and maybe it wore him down a little bit. He's a tremendous player, though."
Dougher did not buy the stage fright-on-Broadway explanation. "It wasn't daunting," he said of his first Garden experience. "We were planning the whole week. We watched a lot of film on them. They pressured everyone and they hit everyone up from the backcourt. We had an idea, but you don't really get the hang of it until the game starts."
It would have been hard to forecast the job done off the bench by Rutgers freshman guard Myles Mack, who shot 7-for-8 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line and scored 22 points -- five more than Stony Brook's Dave Coley.
"They're a very competitive team in the America East. They have a chance to compete to go to the NCAA Tournament," said Rutgers big man Austin Johnson. "They're a senior-driven team, they're a very good team."
The Seawolves just weren't good enough on the big stage. "You have to play better than that to beat a Big East team on the road," said Pikiell, who once played the second half of an NIT championship game at the Garden with a dislocated shoulder. "But it was a great opportunity. It's great for recruiting, great for a lot of reasons. I'm pleased, and I hope they have us back."

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STONY BROOK WOMEN'S HOOPS FALL AT SETON HALL

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Stony Brook Drops 67-58 Decision to Rutgers

NEW YORK (AP)--Freshman Myles Mack scored a season-high 22 points and Rutgers beat a cold-shooting Stony Brook 67-58 on Saturday in the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.Gilvydas Biruta had 13 points and freshman Eli Carter added 11 for the Scarlet Knights (6-5), who won away from home for the first time this season. They had lost one true.
Sophomore Dave Coley had a career-high 17 points to lead the Seawolves (3-6), who have lost four of their last five. It was Stony Brook's first appearance in Madison Square Garden since the program moved to Division I in 1999-2000.

Liberty hires Gill and could move to FBS...STONY BROOK NEXT?

59 m ago By Marcus Henry

Photo credit: AP

The fallout from conference realignment has apparently reached the FCS level.
Big South power Liberty University introduced former Buffalo and Kansas coach Turner Gill as its new head coach on Thursday.
What was even bigger news was the university’s announcement that it will conduct a feasibility study to decide whether it should make the move up to the NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level.
“Given the unexpected turn of events, we believe the time is right for Liberty to conduct the FBS feasibility study, which is so important for our program to move to the level it was originally envisioned it would go,” said school Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr.
Liberty has won at least a share of four of the last five Big South regular season titles. The Flames lost to Stony Brook, 41-31, in its Big South regular season finale.
Is Liberty equipped to make the move? On paper it would seem so. The Flames home field, Williams Stadium, expanded from 12,000 to the current capacity of 19,200 in 2010. According to the school website, there are future plans to expand the stadium capacity to 30,000 seats.
The team had set attendance marks in recent seasons, including drawing a then-school record of 16,112 fans for its home opener against North Carolina Central in 2009. But that was before the stadium expansion.
Liberty shattered that record in 2010 as it drew 19,314 fans for a game against Savannah State. Liberty drew 82,710 fans for five home dates in 2011 and averaged 16,542 fans per game.
Although a potential move to FBS would be at least several years away for Liberty, the question of how this effects Stony Brook must be addressed. The Seawolves have fared well since joining the Big South Conference. It paid off a big way in 2011 as the school won the regular season title and advanced to the FCS playoffs for the first time in program history.
While a Liberty move wouldn’t necessarily dissolve the Big South, it would certainly cause officials and administrators at rival conference schools to reassess their positions.

Jackolski, Faiella Garner AP All-American

Stony Brook, N.Y. (Dec. 15, 2011) – Seniors Brock Jackolski (Shirley, N.Y.) and Joe Faiella (Freehold, N.J.) each were named to the Associated Press All-America Team on Thursday afternoon.
Jackolski, who made the second team as an all-purpose runner, garnered his second All-America honor of the year, having been named to the AFCA FCS Coaches' All-America Team last week.
Jackolski's 2011 season will be remembered as one of the best in school and Big South history. He rushed for 1,418 yards, had 114 receiving yards, 55 punt return yards and 854 kick return yards, totaling 20 touchdowns. The 2,441 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns are Big South single-season records.
He recorded six games with more than 100 rushing yards and tallied more than 150 all-purpose yards in 11 of 13 games.
Jackolski set a conference record with five touchdowns in a 76-28 win over Gardner-Webb.
He's one of five players in Big South history with more than 4,000 all-purpose yards, accomplishing the feat in just two years. Including two seasons at Hofstra, Jackolski totaled 6,394 all-purpose yards, which ranks 16th in FCS history.
After starting all 11 games at left tackle in 2010, Faiella moved inside to left guard, and didn't miss a beat. He started all 13 games, blocking for two 1,000-yard rushers for a second straight season. Faiella, who joined Jackolski on the second team, earned first team All-Big South honors.
The Seawolves' ground game rushed for 200 yards or more in nine games this season, including a season-high 446 yards against Coastal Carolina. Stony Brook set a conference record with seven straight games of at least 40 points scored.
Stony Brook's scoring offense (38.0 ppg) and rushing offense (267.3 ypg) ranked second and fourth in the nation, respectively.

FDU EDGES STONY BROOK WOMEN'S HOOPS, 51-48

Fairleigh Dickinson edges women's hoops, 51-48 - Stony Brook Official Athletic Site

Stony Brook University receives $150M gift

By ZACHARY R. DOWDY zachary.dowdy@newsday.com

Photo credit: Newsday / John Dunn | James Simons addresses a gathering at the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at the Stony Brook University. The building was started by a gift from the James and Marilyn Simons Foundation. (Oct. 26, 2010)

Stony Brook University is being granted $150 million, the largest gift in the school's history, according to a published report.
The Simons Foundation's gift, said The New York Times, is the sixth largest donation ever to a public university, citing The Chronicle of Higher Education.
"I want to thank Jim and Marilyn Simons and the Simons Foundation for their immense generosity," said Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who is scheduled to hold a news conference on campus with the Simonses Tuesday at 11 a.m., where Cuomo will also announce the school is the recipient of a separate $35 million state grant.
"The gift will have a profound and everlasting impact on the Long Island region and the state, particularly in terms of health care, economic development, and human and intellectual capital," Cuomo said.
The Simonses' gift more than doubles a $60 million donation the couple's foundation gave in 2008. The campus, where James Simons once chaired the mathematics department, hosts the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics.
The other state funds, part of the SUNY 2020 initiative, are designed to boost academics and economic development, sources close to the governor said Tuesday.
When it applied for the SUNY 2020 grant, Stony Brook said the money would be used to help fund an ambitious plan to build a sprawling cancer research center, add 245 new faculty and 400 staff, and enroll an additional 1,500 students. University officials touted the plan's potential to help students, improve local medical options and boost the economy.
Cuomo in May had called the Stony Brook proposal "very impressive."
Cuomo and legislators authorized the grant program earlier this year, as part of the state budget. The four State University of New York research centers -- Stony Brook, Albany, Binghamton and Buffalo -- were given the opportunity to apply for up to $35 million each.
To help pay part of the costs, Cuomo and legislators approved a multiple-year tuition hike. It increases tuition at SUNY campuses 30 percent over five years, from $4,970 to $6,470.
Stony Brook has proposed constructing an eight-level, $194-million facility, adjacent to the two towers of the university's medical center.
On Tuesday, Cuomo announced a $35 million SUNY 2020 grant for the University at Buffalo to help pay for a capital construction program.

STONY BROOK Women's lacrosse adds Janine Hillier to roster

Former Farmingdale High School standout Janine Hillier has signed a grant-in-aid offer to join the Stony Brook women's lacrosse team in time for the 2012 season, head coach Joe Spallina announced Tuesday. Hillier, who will have two seasons of eligibility at Stony Brook, recently transferred from the University of Florida.

"The Stony Brook women's lacrosse program is excited to add a player of Janine's caliber to the team," Spallina announced Tuesday. "I've been watching her play for years, first at Farmingdale High School and then at the University of Florida. She is an incredible talent, and her addition will make our team that much stronger."

Hillier is coming off a spectacular 2011 season with Florida, helping lead the Gators to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship in just the second season of the program. She had 34 goals and six assists, more than doubling her goal total from her freshman season. She was named to the IWLCA All-South Region second team and was an All-American Lacrosse Conference second team selection.

In 38 career games with the Gators, Hillier posted 49 goals and 14 assists for 63 points. She converted 10 of 34 free position attempts and had 38 ground balls, 53 draw controls and 23 caused turnovers.

Prior to joining Florida, Hillier led Farmingdale to the 2009 New York State Championship, recording 52 goals and 25 assists that season. She was named a first-team All-American by US Lacrosse and Under Armour and was ranked in the top 25 among 2009 incoming freshman recruits by Inside Lacrosse Magazine. She led Farmingdale to four straight Nassau County and Long Island championships and finished her high school career with 164 goals and 143 assists.

Hillier joins a talented Seawolves team that has 13 returning letterwinners, four transfers from Adelphi and 10 incoming freshmen that will play for Spallina, who is in his first season with Stony Brook after winning three consecutive NCAA Div. II national championships as the head coach at Adelphi.

Dougher's 21 not enough to get STONY BROOK men's hoops past BC

Final Stats
Boston - Senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) scored 21 points, all coming in the second half, but the Stony Brook men's basketball team went scoreless for the final 11:50 of the 1st half as Boston College used a 22-0 run and held off a second-half SBU rally to get past the Seawolves, 66-51, Sunday evening at Conte Forum.

The Seawolves shot a season-low 29.7 percent from the field and didn't have an answer for Boston College, which shot 47.9 percent from the floor. The Eagles were 14-for-17 from the free throw line, and the Seawolves were 4-for-5.

"Our first half was our downfall tonight," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We couldn't make shots in the first half, and we had some open looks. Clearly, with 40 points in the second half, we are capable of scoring, but we couldn't get it done in the first half and we didn't play enough defense to stop BC."

Stony Brook got off to a great start as Boston College struggled with turnovers early. With the Eagles up 6-4, the Seawolves went on a 7-0 run that was punctuated by a junior Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) steal and a sophomore Anthony Jackson (Columbus, Ohio) three-pointer that gave SBU an 11-6 lead with 11:50 remaining in the first half.

But that was when Boston College took over as the Eagles scored the next 22 points to end the half. BC took a 14-11 lead and then turned up the shooting by knocking down four consecutive three-pointers -- two each by Patrick Heckmann and Lonnie Johnson -- to go up by 15, 26-11, and pull away from the Seawolves.

Stony Brook fought to get back into the game. An 11-3 run to open the half helped cut the deficit to nine, 31-22, as Dougher scored seven of the 11 points, including a nifty teardrop to end the run. Dougher in fact scored 12 of the team's first 16 points of the half, getting the Seawolves the offensive spark they needed.

The Seawolves scored enough in the second half, but couldn't get a big defensive stop. A Dougher three-pointer at 8:33 got the Seawolves within eight, 47-39, but BC came right back down the court and scored on a Ryan Anderson dunk to make it a double digit lead again. That started a 7-1 Eagles run that ended with Lonnie Jackson's wide open three-pointer at 5:21 to make it a 54-40 game.

The Seawolves didn't get any closer than 11 points the rest of the game.

Dougher's 21 second-half points matched his career high for a single half. He also had 21 against Boston University on Jan. 2, 2010. In addition to Dougher's 21, Jackson had 14 points and made four of five shots from behind the arc. The Seawolves again reached the double-digit mark in offensive rebounds with 11, but could not capitalize, only getting two second chance points.

Stony Brook will now head back to New York and will head to the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, to take on Rutgers in the MSG Holiday Festival Saturday at noon. The game will be televised live on MSG. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.

STONY BROOK Women's Hoops rallies but falls to Fordham

Stony Brook, N.Y. - Stony Brook University's women's basketball team cut an 11-point second half deficit to two but the Fordham Rams held on late for a 41-37 victory over the Seawolves on Sunday at Pritchard Gymnasium.

"Our defense and rebounding this afternoon was outstanding," Stony Brook head coach Beth O'Boyle said. "We just didn't make enough shots to win. But I'm really proud of the way our team competed for the full 40 minutes."

Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) led Stony Brook with 10 points while junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) had seven points and a career-high 13 rebounds including seven on the offensive end. Stony Brook held Fordham to 32.4 percent shooting and had 22 offensive rebounds as the Seawolves out-rebounded the Rams, 44-31.

The Rams led 33-22 following a Becky Peters hoop with 9:25 left but the Seawolves scored 11 of the next 13 points to cut the Fordham lead to 35-33 on a bucket from freshman Kellie Krueger (Wilsonville, Ore. with 1:09 remaining.

Emily Tapio drilled two free throws with 40 seconds left to push the Fordham lead back to four before Davis knocked down a jumper to cut the deficit back to two with 14 seconds to go.

Arielle Collins hit two free throws on the other end to make it 39-35 before Davis hit another jumper with 1.4 seconds left. But Collins hit two more free throws with six tenths of a second remaining to put the game away.

Collins and Charlotte Stoddart led the Rams with 10 points apiece.

Fordham jumped to a 6-4 lead as the Seawolves got early hoops from juniorDani Klupenger (Aurora, Ore.) and Krueger. But Fordham then held Stony Brook without a field goal for over 13 minutes as they took a 13-7 lead with under five minutes to go in the half. 

The Stony Brook defense kept SBU in the game, holding the Rams without a field goal for over six minutes at one point.

Davis broke the Stony Brook drought with back-to-back jumpers to bring SBU within two but Fordham scored the final four points of the half to take a six-point lead into the break.

SBU held Fordham to 26.3 percent shooting in the first half and out-rebounded the Rams, 24-15.

The Rams opened the second half strong, scoring seven of the first 10 points of the period to take a 10-point advantage. Junior Jessica Previlon(Brooklyn, N.Y.) answered with back-to-back hoops though to kick start an 8-2 run that cut the Fordham lead to 26-22.

But the Rams responded with seven straight points to take an 11-point midway through the half.

Stony Brook returns to action on Wednesday, traveling to take on FDU. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

LIU edges STONY BROOK women’s hoops in overtime

Stony Brook, N.Y. – Stony Brook’s women’s basketball team shot a season-high 42.9 percent but the LIU Blackbirds scored the first seven points of overtime on their way to a 66-59 victory over the Seawolves on Thursday at Pritchard Gymnasium. Krystal Wells hit a game-tying three with 4.5 seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime. “Overall, it was a great team effort and I’m really happy with the way we competed,” O’Boyle said. “But give credit to LIU, they made some big shots down the stretch and that was the difference in the game.
Freshman Kellie Krueger (Wilsonville, Ore.) led the Seawolves with season-highs of 12 points and eight rebounds and junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) added 10 points. Junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) chipped in with seven points and five steals in the back-and-forth game that featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes.
Gatling hit two free throws with 44 seconds left in regulation to give the Seawolves a 54-52 lead, and then forced a turnover on LIU’s ensuing possession. Senior Whitney Davis (Muskegon, Mich.) hit one of two free throws with 12 seconds left but Wells knocked down a three from left corner to tie it at 57.
Kiara Evans hit two free throws on LIU’s first possession of overtime before both teams went scoreless over the next two and a half minutes. But She’tiarra Pledger hit a three with 2:22 left to make it 60-55 and Ebony Davis followed with a lay-in to give LIU a seven-point advantage.
Stony Brook got within 62-57 on a hoop from senior Tamiel Murray (Teaneck, N.J.) but that was as close as SBU would get as LIU held on for the victory. Evans, Davis and Ashley Palmer each had 15 points to lead the Blackbirds.
After falling behind early, Stony Brook used a 12-3 spurt to take a 14-10 lead five minutes in. LIU rallied to take a 19-18 with 8:42 to go but junior Dani Klupenger (Aurora, Ore.) responded with a three and Krueger followed with a short jumper a minute later to put SBU on top, 23-20.
LIU again rallied, going ahead on two free throws from Pledger with 50 seconds remaining but junior Talisha Bridges (Kalamazoo, Mich.) knocked down a jumper on the other end and the teams went to the break tied at 30.
The Blackbirds led by as many as seven early in the second half but the Seawolves again had an answer, taking a 42-40 lead with 11:16 left on a Gatling jumper. The teams exchanged the lead three more times over the final minutes before Murray hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 52 with 1:52 left.
Krueger was named the America East Player of the Game for Stony Brook.
The Seawolves return to action on Sunday, hosting Fordham at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 2 p.m.

Stony Brook's complete game routs FDU

Through its first six games, Stony Brook's unofficial team motto this year hadn't exactly been on display.
"Defense wins games, offense tells you by how much," said forward Tommy Brenton, reciting coach Steve Pikiell's mantra. It finally struck a chord Wednesday night once the whistle blew for the start of the second half in Stony Brook's resounding 70-46 win over Fairleigh Dickinson.
"In the locker room, Coach said just go out there and play defense and we'll get the shots," guard Dave Coley said. "We did."
After a shaky first half, the Seawolves (3-4) dominated the early part of the second, going on an 18-2 run and blowing open what had been a back-and-forth game. Stony Brook shot 56 percent in the second half, and FDU couldn't keep up.
"This was like old-fashioned Stony Brook basketball," Pikiell said. "We've had signs this year, halves, but we haven't done it on a consistent basis."
Coley had 16 points, Bryan Dougher 14 and Ron Bracey 10 off the bench.
The second-half catalyst might have been Dallis Joyner, the 6-7 center who picked up two fouls in the game's first four minutes and sat until halftime. When Joyner returned, it was with a renewed bounce, and his teammates seemed to feed off of it. He made a reverse layup and grabbed an offensive rebound within the first three minutes and totaled eight rebounds and eight points.
"That's our bulldog, our beast right there," Coley said. "We need him."
Neither team shot particularly well in the first half and FDU (1-7) stayed close, trailing by just eight at halftime. Stony Brook forced 21 turnovers, drew four charges, held FDU to 34 percent shooting and just one bucket in transition. The Knights' leading scorer, Lonnie Hayes, went 0-11 from the field and failed to score a point.
"We just made an extra effort to really step up, play in our gaps, get in our stance, focus on defense tonight," Brenton said.
After back-to-back close losses, this may have been the complete game Stony Brook has been expecting. "I liked the way we were today," Pikiell said. "We played like a veteran team."

BROCK JACKOLSKI - ALL AMERICAN!

Waco, Texas  – Senior Brock Jackolski (Shirley, N.Y.) has been named to the 2011 American Football Coaches Association FCS Coaches' All-America Team, the AFCA announced on Wednesday morning.
"What an awesome feeling," Jackolski said.  "Being called an All-American is one of the highest accomplishments a football player can get.  I've always wanted to call myself an All-American, and now I can."
Jackolski, who's part of the 25-member squad as an all-purpose player, recorded one of the best seasons in Stony Brook and Big South history.
He rushed for 1,418 yards, had 114 receiving yards, 55 punt return yards and 854 kick return yards, totaling 20 touchdowns.  The 2,441 all-purpose yards and 20 touchdowns are Big South single-season records.
A two-time all-conference selection, Jackolski accounted for 319 all-purpose yards against St. Anselm, scoring on runs of 1 and 21 yards and a 90-yard kick return.
He recorded six games with more than 100 rushing yards and tallied more than 150 all-purpose yards in 11 of 13 games.
Jackolski set a conference record with five touchdowns in a 76-28 win over Gardner-Webb.
He's one of five players in Big South history with more than 4,000 all-purpose yards, accomplishing the feat in just two years.  Including two seasons at Hofstra, Jackolski has totaled 6,394 all-purpose yards, which ranks 16th in FCS history.

STONY BROOK WOMEN'S HOOPS FALLS TO RIDER, 53-41

Women's Hoops falls to Rider, 53-41 - Stony Brook Official Athletic Site

Loss can't diminish what SBU accomplished

HUNTSVILLE, Texas
The ending wasn't the way Chuck Priore would have scripted it for a Stony Brook team that was bent on upsetting No. 1 Sam Houston in an FCS second-round game Saturday at Bowers Stadium. The Bearkats (12-0) drove 83 yards to score with 1:01 left and pull out a 34-27 victory that preserved their perfect record.
But as Priore said, "We certainly won't be judged by that last five-minute drive. I know that. We won't allow them to be.''
No, the Seawolves (9-4) came too far and accomplished too much to be defined that way. This was a team that rebounded from a 0-3 start to win nine straight games, earning its first undisputed Big South championship and recording its first FCS playoff victory by beating Albany in the first round the previous week. It lost starting quarterback Michael Coulter to a season-ending knee injury after four games and rallied brilliantly behind backup Kyle Essington.
"I've been part of 30 years of coaching, and this is my 12th year as a head coach,'' Priore said. "This team was a special team. This team didn't get rattled ever. It was sort of amazing to me. Sometimes I wanted to get mad, and I couldn't get mad at them. They'd come off the field and they'd be ready to play the next play. We've answered touchdowns all year, and we've answered with big stops on defense.''
Just a week ago, it was the defense coming up with a game-saving interception by Dominick Reyes against Albany. Then SBU stunned Sam Houston and a crowd of 8,161 by taking a 10-3 lead, the Bearkats' first halftime deficit of the season.
When SHSU came back to take a 17-10 lead on two third-quarter touchdowns, the Seawolves didn't accept their fate and fade away. With their pair of brilliant running backs, Brock Jackolski and Miguel Maysonet, stymied by the nation's leading rushing defense, the Seawolves switched gears.
Essington hit bomb after bomb to wideouts Kevin Norrell, who caught four passes for 114 yards and a touchdown, and Matt Brevi, who had three catches for 94 yards and a TD. They came back to tie the score at 20 and again at 27 with 6:37 to play.
Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz was suitably impressed. "Stony Brook played a sensational ballgame,'' Fritz said. "They were very well-coached and they had an excellent game plan.''
"We accomplished a lot,'' Brevi said of Stony Brook's first nine-win season. "We're going to next year with a lot of momentum, and we have a lot of guys coming back. They're hungry to be back here because it's not a good feeling when you lose.''
Unfortunately for Brevi, he's in the group of seniors who won't return, but they leave knowing they made a lasting imprint. Jackolski, who transferred in from Hofstra two years ago, is another player who found a home and did all he could to improve it.
"It's an awesome experience to play the No. 1 team in the nation and to do it with my fellow teammates who I've grown a good relationship with,'' said Jackolski, who scored his Big South-record 20th touchdown of the season.
Stony Brook athletic director Jim Fiore probably has a better perspective than anyone on what this season means to SBU athletics. "A lot,'' Fiore said. "They represented us in ways we've never had. They raised expectations and showed resilience. They put us on the map in a sport where we didn't have scholarships just five years ago.''
Stony Brook -- the name is beginning to resonate now.

Sam Houston outlasts Stony Brook, 34-27

HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- If Stony Brook accomplished nothing else, it served notice to the Football Championship Subdivision that there's a new player on the national scene.
The Seawolves led No. 1 Sam Houston State by seven points at halftime, and even after the game turned around in the third quarter, Stony Brook twice came back from seven-point deficits to tie the Bearkats in an FCS second-round playoff game Saturday at Bowers Stadium.
But when time ran out, Sam Houston still was standing as tall as the granite statue of its namesake at the edge of town, with its unbeaten record intact. The Bearkats (12-0) drove 83 yards to win the game, 34-27, on Tim Flanders' 7-yard run with 1:01 to play.
"It was a dogfight from beginning to end,'' Bearkats safety Darnell Taylor said. "[Stony Brook] was the best offense we played all season. They schemed us, and they had good guys. They're a good team.''
Sam Houston's team motto is "prove it,'' which the Bearkats did. But the Seawolves (9-4), who had won nine straight games, proved they belonged.
Stony Brook took a 10-3 halftime lead on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Essington to Matt Brevi and a 32-yard field goal by Wes Skiffington. The scoring plays were set up by runs of 30 yards by Miguel Maysonet and 65 yards by Brock Jackolski as SBU rolled up 121 first-half rushing yards on the nation's top rushing defense (59.0).
It was the first time Sam Houston had trailed at halftime all season, and the seven-point margin tied its largest deficit.
But everything changed in the third quarter when Stony Brook went three-and-out on its first three possessions and punted into a wind gusting to 20 miles per hour. Starting at the SBU 42 after Skiffington's 23-yard punt, Sam Houston tied it on a 5-yard pass from Brian Bell to Richard Sincere and then drove 57 yards to go ahead 17-10 on Bell's 5-yard run.
"It's always tough when you have a short field to defend,'' said Seawolves linebacker Grant Nakwaasah, who had a terrific game with eight tackles, including three for losses. "They made adjustments at halftime and we didn't come up with the plays we needed.''
Sam Houston held SBU to 150 yards rushing for the game and only 29 in the second half, when the Seawolves had the ball for just 11:30. Jackolski finished with 86 yards on 14 carries and Maysonet had 73 on 16 carries.
"As soon as we came through the hole, their safeties were coming down real hard,'' Jackolski said. "It was frustrating, but it opened up the passing game.''
Essington completed only 9 of 29 passes, but they went for 226 yards, two touchdowns and a series of big plays.
After the teams traded field goals early in the fourth quarter to leave the Bearkats in front 20-13, Essington hit Brevi for 38 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Norrell that tied the score at 20.
On Sam Houston's next play, Bell's pump fake got Stony Brook cornerback Donald Porter to bite up, and Bell hit Trey Diller running wide-open down the right side for an 80-yard touchdown and a 27-20 lead.
"The biggest thing in the game was the field position in the third period and the big play we gave up after we tied it up,'' Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore said. "They faked a bubble pass. Our corner came down to play the bubble, and our safety came down. It's human error. They executed it. They deserve it. It was a good call on their part.''
But the Seawolves were undaunted, driving 73 yards -- helped by a 45-yard completion to Norrell -- and scoring on Jackolski's 2-yard run to tie it at 27 with 6:37 remaining. A pass-interference penalty on Taylor on fourth-and-9 set up the score.
"Our offense, we're fighters,'' Essington said. "Last week, we were down [by 18] against Albany and came back.''
But in the final six minutes, Sam Houston proved why it's No. 1. The Bearkats gained 68 yards on the ground in their winning drive, including a couple of key option runs by Bell.
"They played cover, and it allowed Brian to run more options than usual and he made good decisions,'' Sam Houston coach Willie Fritz said. "We didn't play great, but Stony Brook had a lot to do with that.''

#1 SAM HOUSTON STATE OUTSCORES STONY BROOK 34-27, IN SECOND ROUND OF NCAA FCS FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS

Story coming soon...

STONY BROOK MENS BASKETBALL GETS CLIPPED AT EIU, 72-69

Men's hoops gets clipped at EIU, 72-69 - Stony Brook Official Athletic Site

GOOD LUCK STONY BROOK FOOTBALL: Send-Off Video

SEND OFF VIDEO

Nice SBU reception for Brevi's comeback route (Newsday)

In the fall of 2006, Matt Brevi was out of college and feeling sorry for himself.
Brevi had hoped to play football at South Florida in his hometown of Tampa, a dream that was shattered, he said, when he failed to attain the required SAT score.
"I kind of gave up on football,'' said Brevi, now a key wide receiver for Stony Brook. "I didn't care about it anymore. I didn't have anywhere else to go. I kind of got down on myself. It was very frustrating for me. Knowing that you can play at the Division I level and having everything taken away is really tough.''
In December 2006, Brevi received a phone call from the staff at Fort Hays, a Division II school in Kansas, and slowly started to resurrect his academic and athletic careers.
His brother Chris, who played at Iowa and later at Stony Brook, helped set him back on course.
"He told me, 'Everything is going to be better. Wherever you go, you've got to make the most of your opportunities,' '' Matt said. "That's what I did at Fort Hays.''
After a good season there, Stony Brook entered the picture.
Coach Chuck Priore learned about Brevi from Sean Callahan, who coached Brevi at Armwood High School in Tampa and whose son is current Seawolves linebacker Casey Callahan.
"From the moment he joined our program, he had some natural leadership ability,'' Priore said. "He was talented; he needed to learn our system. As he learned, he got better and better. And he excelled in the classroom. He'll be graduating and has been a good team leader.''
Brevi has caught 28 passes for 522 yards and leads the receivers with six touchdowns. In his three years at SBU, he has caught 93 passes for 1,534 yards and 13 touchdowns.
"If you mention the word [physical], it's by far Matt Brevi,'' offensive coordinator Jeff Behrman said during a conference call with ESPN3, which will broadcast Stony Brook's FCS second-round playoff game against Sam Houston Saturday in Huntsville, Texas. "He is somebody that's going to go in there and block the safety, crack those guys and put them on the ground. He's done that numerous times for us this year.''
Brevi does not mind looking back at the past; it helps him appreciate the present -- and future. "I'm very blessed to have the season I had this year and also to graduate,'' he said. "Coming from the summer of 2006 and not even knowing if I was ever going to graduate from college to now, actually being able to have a plan, setting my goals and achieving them.''

STONY BROOK Men's hoops announces record broadcast schedule for 2011-12

Seawolves will have 18 games on television, including three national broadcasts, and all 28 games on WUSB Radio.

• 2011-12 Men's Basketball Broadcast Schedule (PDF)
• 2011-12 Stony Brook Athletics Broadcast Schedule

Stony Brook University Men’s Basketball will appear on television at least 18 times during the 2011-12 season, which shatters the school record, the program announced after America East released its full television package Wednesday. The Seawolves will have three nationally televised games, one on ESPNU and two on CBS Sports Network, which will compliment Stony Brook’s eight-game package with Cablevision’s Optimum Local.
In addition, all 28 regular season games and all potential postseason games will be broadcast on the radio at WUSB 90.1 FM and online at WUSB.fm.
“Having at least 18 games on television this season says a lot about how far our program has come,” head coach Steve Pikiell said. “We are honored to be representing Stony Brook University on so many platforms on local, regional and national levels. This will be our opportunity to reach millions of homes nationwide and show them how our student-athletes compete hard both athletically and academically.”
Stony Brook’s headlining broadcast will be its Jan. 27 home game against Boston University, which will air on ESPNU, which reaches 72 million homes across the country. The Seawolves will be looking to knock off the defending champion Terriers in a rematch of last season’s America East Championship final. The game will also be a part of Stony Brook’s Winterfest 2012.
Stony Brook also will have a pair of games broadcast through ESPN3, which is ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network, a 24/7 destination that delivers thousands of global sports events annually and accessible online via WatchESPN.com. It is available to approximately 70 million homes at no cost to fans who receive a high-speed Internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated provider. Stony Brook’s game at Boston University on Jan. 14 and at New Hampshire on Feb. 6 will both be carried by ESPN3.
The Seawolves hoops team will appear on CBS Sports Network for the first time ever with a pair of February games. The team will play at Vermont Feb. 12 and host Maine Feb. 26 in the regular season finale. CBS Sports Network, which televises over 2,000 hours of live programming a year, is available to 98 million homes nationwide.

Stony Brook will also have other regional television dates on the schedule. The team’s Dec. 11 game at Boston College will be broadcast in the New England region on NESN. The following week’s Dec. 17 appearance at Madison Square Garden vs. Rutgers in the MSG Holiday Festival will be televised on MSG at noon. The Feb. 4 game at Albany will be regionally televised by Time Warner Cable Sports.
The national and regional television package is supplemented by an eight-game local package through Cablevision’s Optimum Local, which was announced back in October. The Seawolves will appear on iO TV digital cable’s channel 118 in Nassau and Suffolk County beginning with the Dec. 7 game vs. Fairleigh Dickinson and will include all America East games with the exception of Jan. 27 and Feb. 26.
Stony Brook men’s basketball, under seventh-year head coach Steve Pikiell, is off to a 2-3 start to the 2011-12 season. The Seawolves have returned 12 letterwinners from last season’s team that advanced to the America East Championship final for the first time in program history. The Seawolves have been picked to finish either first or second in most media/coaches polls and will compete for their first-ever America East championship and NCAA Tournament bid.

Sacred Heart defeats Stony Brook women’s hoops, 55-33

Fairfield, Conn. – Stony Brook University’s women’s basketball team fell to the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 55-33, on Wednesday night at the Pitt Center. It was the second straight loss for the Seawolves.

“We competed hard but just didn’t execute the way we need to on the offensive end of the court,” Stony Brook head coach Beth O’Boyle said. “But we’ll come out and practice hard tomorrow and get ready for a good Rider team next Tuesday.”

Junior Gerda Gatling (Woodbridge, Va.) led Stony Brook as she matched a career-high with 10 points and junior Jessica Previlon (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with five points and nine rebounds.  Callan Taylor paced Sacred Heart with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Sacred Heart started the game strong; hitting five of its first seven shots to take a 16-4 lead six minutes in. The Seawolves held the Pioneers without a field goal over the next five and a half minutes but still trailed 18-5 with nine minutes to go in the half.

Gatling gave the Seawolves a much needed lift off the bench though, scoring six points over the next two minutes as SBU cut the Sacred Heart lead to 25-13 with six minutes remaining. The teams traded hoops over the next five minutes but SHU scored the final five points of the half and took a 32-15 lead into the break.

Sacred Heart shot 46.4 percent over the opening 20 minutes and scored 10 points off nine Stony Brook turnovers. The Pioneers also had a 21-15 rebounding edge.

Gatling continued her strong play to start the second half, hitting a long jumper to answer an early Sacred Heart hoop. But the Pioneers scored eight of the next 10 points to take a 40-19 lead with 14:11 left.

Sacred Heart pushed its lead to as many as 25 and Stony Brook got no closer than 19 the rest of the way. It was the fifth win in six games for the Pioneers.

Stony Brook returns to action on Tuesday, traveling to take on Rider. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.