Stony Brook (18-4) continues to steamroll teams in conference play by winning its ninth consecutive conference game and earning its 14th straight win over the Binghamton Bearcats (5-17) in a 76-51 rout. With seven players receiving 15 minutes or more for SBU, five of them managed to score double-figure points.
Four of the five starters for SBU finished in double-figures. After missing three games from an ankle injury, SBU sophomore forward Bryan Sekunda came off the bench and thrived from the three point line. Junior guard Lucas Woodhouse led with 14 points and went 5-7 from the court, leading his team in scoring. Woodhouse and Sekunda both shot 4-5 from three.
“In the second half, our guards got in gaps and made the extra pass and made open shots,” Woodhouse said.
SBU senior Jameel Warney continued to rack up numbers on the stat sheet and won conference player of the week for the fifth time this season. He concluded with 13 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and three steals in 35 minutes. He shot 6-13 from the floor.
“We’ve made so many improvements this year,” Warney said after the game. “We’ve challenged ourselves with getting better every game.”
For the other seniors on SBU, forward Rayshaun McGrew and guard Carson Puriefoy had their fair share of all-around contributions. McGrew had 11 points, six rebounds and an assist in only 23 minutes due to foul trouble. Puriefoy finished with 12 points, five assists and four rebounds in 36 minutes. Combined they shot 9-21.
SBU was carrying the lead in the middle of the first half until Binghamton picked up defensively and took advantage of missed shots. Junior guard Marlon Beck II and sophomore forward Willie Rodriguez, their season leading scorer (14.3 points per game), carried the backpack for the Bearcats. They combined for 15 points and shot 6-12 from the field and 3-5 from deep. Beck led with nine points at the half and was perfect from three-point range (3-3).
Binghamton shot better from beyond the arc, with field goals, and in free throw percentage in the first half. The second half went much differently as SBU went on a scoring spree.
SBU outscored Binghamton in the second half 49-23 and completely trampled the Bearcats offense with a huge 23-5 scoring run. Binghamton turned the ball over 11 times in the second half and only made eight shots out of their 19 attempts. Warney led the game in steals with three and all of them came in the second half of play. They also struggled to shoot the ball from deep and make good passes going 1-6 from three and had only four assists. Binghamton is last in three-point shooting in conference play at 29.8 percent.
SBU’s shooting percentages against the Bearcats were staggering. They made 30 field goals and 11 three pointers which were both over 50 percent shooting. They finished with 20 assists, seven steals, eight turnovers, 32 points in the paint and 20 bench points all outnumbering Binghamton.
“A great team win today,” SBU head coach Steve Pikiell said. “Our frontcourt has been carrying us, so I thought it was great to get a great effort from our backcourt.”
It was one of the best scoring teams against the worst in the America East as Binghamton is last in their conference in scoring at 58.9 points per game, and SBU only trails Maine in conference play scoring 76.6 points per game.
SBU also leads conference play in defensive scoring by a large margin at 57 points per game. Second on the list is Albany at 65.4 and Binghamton in third at 65.6.
The Bearcats had the lead for 10:50 of gameplay but SBU would not let them get comfortable and eventually conquered Binghamton as SBU led the game for 26:54. The lead changed nine times and score was tied twice.
SBU’s next game is away at UMass Lowell (7-14) on Feb. 6 at 2 p.m. The team is in search for its 15th consecutive win and 10th conference victory. SBU won in their first meeting which was at home in an 86-59 blowout.
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