After faltering down the stretch of its 64-62 home loss to Sacred Heart University, men’s basketball looked to get back to its winning ways when it hosted the Golden Griffins of Canisius University on Saturday afternoon. The Seawolves entered the game with a 3-1 record, while Canisius was 3-0 on the season. Tipoff, originally scheduled for 2PM, was moved to noon because of the football team’s home playoff game.
The Seawolves came ready to play, opening the game on a 13-four run over the first 5:43 of play. Junior guard Anthony Jackson scored eight of these 13 points, including two three pointers.
Though Canisius responded with a 10-two run to pull to within 15-14 with 11:38 remaining in the first half, Stony Brook refused to surrender the lead. It answered the Golden Griffins’ spurt with a Nino-Nil run and took a 24-14 lead 8:56 before halftime—freshman forward Jameel Warney scored all nine points during this stretch.
The Seawolves led 36-30 at halftime. Jackson and Warney led Stony Brook with eleven points apiece during the first half; guard Alshwan Hymes topped Canisius’ players with eight points over the first 20:00.
Canisius scored the first four points of the second half, a layup and a dunk by forward Jordan Heath, and pulled to within two points, 36-34. Though Stony Brook extended its lead to 41-34, the pesky visitors again cut the lead to two, 43-41, on a pair of Billy Baron free throws with 14:26 remaining.
After Baron’s free throws, Stony Brook used a nine-nil run to take both a double digit lead (52-41) and control of the game. Consecutive layups by senior forward Tommy Brenton which put the Seawolves up 50-41 with 13:19 remaining highlighted the spurt.
Stony Brook led by as many as 15 points down the stretch and was able to hold on for an 82-75 victory. Jackson led the Seawolves in scoring with 21 points. Brenton scored nine points and dominated the boards, collecting a game-high 14 rebounds. Baron scored a game-high 22 points for Canisius.
With the victory, Stony Brook improved to four-one on the season. The team will now travel to Storrs, CT. to take on the Connecticut University Huskies tomorrow at 4pm.
