The Seawolves have now won four straight games and picked up their first road victory of the season. It was the program's first-ever win at the Events Center and first win at Binghamton since Jan. 15, 2002, a span of nine games. SBU is also now 2-0 in America East play for just the second time in program history (2009-10).
Brenton's 17 was among four Seawolves to score in double figures. Sophomore Dave Coley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 12 points, senior Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.) added 11 points, and senior Al Rapier (Chicago, Ill.) chipped in 10.
Stony Brook survived seven Binghamton three-pointers in the game. The Bearcats shot better from outside the arc (43.8%) than inside the arc (41.4%). Robert Mansell led Binghamton with 22 points.
"I liked the way Tommy played tonight, he gave us a huge lift," head coach Steve Pikiell said. "Binghamton was a tough team to play tonight; they were solid and shot the ball well. Fortunately, we made enough plays to come away with the win.
After a back-and forth first half, Stony Brook came out in the second half with a 12-4 run. Coley had six points during the streak, and Rapier punctuated the run with four free throws, the first two coming on an intentional foul by Ben Dickinson.
Binghamton then responded with an 11-0 run that was fueled by a set of three-pointers as Mansell hit one and Chris Longoria hit a pair. Alex Ogundadegbe's hook shot ended the run and gave the Bearcats a 43-39 lead.
It was 44-43 Binghamton when the Seawolves took over the game. Brenton made a move inside, faked a defender and passed out to Dougher in the corner, and Dougher drained a three-pointer to give SBU a 46-44 lead with 8:39 to go.
While the Bearcats missed six straight shots, the Seawolves built a nine-point lead. Brenton put back a Coley miss at 4:58 and then Rapier shot right past defenders in the lane for a dunk and the foul at 4:22. He made the free throw and put the Seawolves up 53-44.
Binghamton cut its deficit to five, 53-48, with 3:13 remaining, but neither team scored for almost two minutes until Dougher rattled off a three-point attempt that missed, but Brenton was there for a ferocious putback dunk at 1:37 to make it a seven-point game and take the air out of BU's sails.
Brenton hit three of four free throws at the end to seal the victory.
In the first half, Stony Brook scored the first two baskets of the game, but Binghamton quickly made a comeback and then was fueled by a 9-2 run that included three three-pointers from Jimmy Gray. The Bearcats went up 15-10.
Stony Brook fought back and briefly took a two-point lead, 23-21, after a Dougher three-pointer, but the Bearcats quickly responded on Mansell's three-pointer to make it 24-23 Bearcats.
Stony Brook led 27-26 after Joyner's hook shot and then seemed poised to add to that lead after grabbing a pair of offensive rebounds that led to nearly a minute of offensive possession time, but the Seawolves could not convert. Gray hit a long jumper just inside the three-point line to send the Bearcats into halftime up 28-27.
Stony Brook outrebounded Binghamton 36-25 and had 17 second chance points on 13 offensive rebounds. The Seawolves were 13-for-19 from the free throw line while Binghamton was 9-for-10.
Brenton now has 688 rebounds for his career, moving into fifth place all-time in Stony Brook history.
Stony Brook is back at home Sunday for another SUNY rivalry match, taking on Albany in the first game of a Seawolves Basketball doubleheader. Tip-off is at 2 p.m., and the game will be televised on Optimum Local Channel 118. For tickets, call (631) 632-WOLF or log on to GoSeawolves.org/tickets.
