Stony bricks spell defeat
Seawolves fall again in America East final
Stony Brook won’t dancing anytime soon.
One game away from making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season, the Seawolves missed another shot at history after a 51-43 loss to Vermont in the America East Tournament championship yesterday at Stony Brook Arena.
Despite holding the Catamounts without a field goal over the final 9:56, Stony Brook could not overcome a 17-point second-half deficit, created by the Seawolves’ 29.3 percent shooting from the field.
“I would’ve never thought we’d shoot the ball this poorly in a game like this,” said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell, whose team will play in the NIT after winning its second regularseason conference championship in three years. “I thought we were getting some decent looks. You’ve just got to make shots. Basketball isn’t that complicated. It really isn’t.”
It looked like it yesterday, as the top-seeded Seawolves (22-9) shot 4-of-19 on 3pointers and trailed 46-29 with less than 10 minutes remaining.
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Sophomore guard Dave Coley rallied the crowd with eight consecutive points during a 12-1 run that made it 47-41 with 5:21 remaining. After more than four scoreless minutes from each team, Stony Brook senior Bryan Dougher hit two free throws to make it a fourpoint game with one minute left. Coley came up with a steal on the next possession, but missed a running shot, as second-seeded Vermont (23-11) then sealed the game from the free-throw line.
“It’s disappointing,” Dougher said. “We couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities we got. Vermont’s a great team and they didn’t hurt themselves. They never do.”
The Catamounts were led by tournament MVP Brian Voelkel, who had five points, 15 rebounds and seven assists, and Four Mcglynn, who scored a game-high 14 points on four 3-pointers.
Stony Brook lost for the first time this season when holding an opponent under 60 points, having been 16-0, and also dropped its first home game of the season. Though the Seawolves played every home game in 1,700 seat Pritchard Gymnasium, conference rules state the championship game must be played in a building with a capacity of at least 3,000, moving the game to the sold-out, adjacent 4,500 seat Arena.
The extra fans weren’t able to make extra noise. Stony Brook held its only lead at 2-0 and trailed 26-19 at the half.
Al Rapier kept the game close by scoring eight of the Seawolves’ first 13 points, opening 4-of-6 while the rest of the team shot 1-of-16. Dougher and Coley, the team’s two leading scorers, shot a combined 6-of-28 for 18 points.
“I thought our players and our university deserved to go to the NCAA Tournament,” Pikiell said. “It would have been unbelievable. I thought it was our time, but obviously it wasn’t.”