Princess Anne, Md. - Senior Muhammad El-Amin (Lansing, Mich.) scored a game-high 25 points and the Stony Brook University men's basketball team held the Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks to 35.3 shooting on its way to a 75-57 victory in the 2009-10 season opener for both teams on Friday night at the W.P. Hytche Athletic Center.
"This was a terrific win for us on the road against a very good Maryland Eastern Shore team," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We got a great effort from a lot of guys and our defense, especially in the second half, was excellent.
El-Amin shot 9-for-20 from the field and led a balanced Seawolves scoring attack that saw 10 different players score. Sophomore Bryan Dougher(Scotch Plains, N.J.) chipped in with 11 points, all in the first half, and sophomore Tommy Brenton (Columbia, Md.) collected a game-high nine rebounds.
The Hawks scored the first points of the game on a three from Hillary Haley but the Seawolves answered with a 10-4 run highlighted by four points from junior Chris Martin (Springfield Gardens, N.Y.) and a thunderous fast-break dunk by El-Amin. UMES would answer with a 13-4 spurt to take a 20-14 lead with 12:56 remaining in the half.
Dougher ended the Hawks run with a floater in the lane and El-Amin followed with a three from the right side to cut SBU's deficit to one. The Hawks scored the next four points but Dougher answered with a three to kick start a 10-0 Stony Brook run that gave the Seawolves a 29-24 lead and forced UMES to take timeout with 6:03 remaining. SBU held the Hawks scoreless for nearly four minutes during the run.
Mark Robertson banked in a three out of the UMES timeout but a three-point play from freshman Preye Preboye (Springfield, Mass.) pushed the SBU lead back to five with 4:49 left. El-Amin would score five of the Seawolves final seven points of the half to send Stony Brook into the break with a 40-28 lead.
El-Amin scored a game-high 13 points in the first half for the Seawolves, who held the Hawks to just one field goal over the final 9:25 of the period. Dougher added 11 points and Preboye chipped in with six.
Maryland-Eastern Shore scored seven of the first nine points of the second half to cut the Seawolves lead to seven but senior Desmond Adedeji (Landover Hills, Md.) then scored four straight points to give Stony Brook a 46-35 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the game. Neil Pitt answered with a long jumper on the other end but Preboye then slammed home a miss from sophomore Danny Carter (London, England) to push the Seawolves lead back to 11.
The Seawolves still led by 12 midway through the second half before a put-back hoop from Brenton and jumper from freshman Marcus Rouse (Upper Marlboro, Md.) gave Stony Brook their largest lead of the game at 60-44 with 7:46 left in the contest.
Maryland-Eastern Shore would get no closer than 14 the rest of the way with the Seawolves building their lead to as much as 21 on an El-Amin layup with 2:15 remaining. It was the second straight year that Stony Brook has opened the season with a victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore.
The Seawolves return to action on Monday for their home opener, hosting Mt. St. Mary College at Pritchard Gymnasium. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
