Seawolves Get a #1 Seed in America East (Recap of Maine v. Stony Brook)

Day Four of our four day weekend of hoops concluded today with a tripleheader.  First, it was Maine vs. Stony Brook, then a St. Peter's - Iona double feature; the women's game followed by the men's game.  And it was Senior Day for all three home teams.

I picked up my older son Matthew from baseball camp, then dropped off my younger son Jonathan with my in-laws.  Then it was off to Stony Brook for our first game.  We got there about a half hour before game time.  In the confusion of putting my tickets away, I left my wallet on the counter top of the concessions area. Thankfully, the person running the concessions gave it to a security guard. When I realized I had forgot my wallet, the concessions person pointed me to the security guard who gave me my wallet.  Can't thank both of them enough.  Crisis averted.

As we walked into a sold out Pritchard Gym, they were finishing the Senior Day ceremonies.  Dallas Joyner, Bryan Dougher, Al Rapier and Danny Carter were honored on their last regular season home game. The game was being televised on CBS Sports Network.  Don Criqui, who I grew up watching on Saturday afternoon NBC college basketball games, was doing the play by play while Wally Szczerbiak was doing the color.

Feeding off the emotion of Senior Day and the energy of the crowd, the Seawolves came out strong from the start.  After Maine's Gerald McLemore's three pointer cut Stony Brook's lead to 5-4, the Seawolves scored the next ten points. Dougher scored eight of those points, including two three pointers.  Stony Brook was up 15-4 with not even four and a half minutes gone by in the game.

After a classic hustle play by Tommy Brenton resulted in him scoring on a left handed driving layup, the Seawolves' lead had swelled to 26-11. It looked like Wolfie, the Seawolves Mascot, could put away the foul shot distracting Shake Weight away for the day.  Meanwhile, the Stony Brook Pep Band was playing some good tunes, including a good rendition of Santana's "Oye Como Va".

But Stony Brook then suddenly went cold from the field, going two of eleven the rest of half.  The Seawolves also committed six turnovers over the last seven minutes of the half.  This allowed Maine to go on a 13-4 run to end the half and cut the lead to six, 30-24.

At halftime, Matthew was really hungry and wanted two soft pretzels.  Thus we made our way to the concessions while a local CYO team played at halftime.  We got back for the tale end of the CYO game and Matthew was as aggressive eating his first pretzel as Brenton drove the lane on that layup.

The Black Bears picked up right where they left off at the end of the first half.   After he was fouled shooting a three point play, Maine's McLemore hit all three of his foul shots to cut the lead to one, 36-35.  The Black Bears had now outscored the Seawolves 24-10 over two halves.

Maine was still within one 40-39 with a little over nine minutes remaining.  Then Stony Brook finally started inching away.  Dallas Joyner and Al Rapier combined on a 6-0 mini run and the Seawolves went back up  by seven, 46-39 with eight and a half minutes left.

When you watch a Stony Brook game live, you will be treated to the best mascot perhaps in the country, Wolfie Seawolf.  Whether he is part of the dance team's "Greased Lightning" dance set, or when he is putting on the big hairdo and the chains and dancing to LMFAO's Party Rock anthem.  And of course, Wolfie leads the kids in the "Cotton Eye Joe" dance at the under eight media timeout. The dance team brought cardboard cutouts of all the Stony Brook players and Coach Steve Pikiell onto the dance floor and danced with them.  It was a very funny touch to the routine.

Normally a seven point advantage with that much time remaining isn't that much of a cushion.  But when you play defense like Stony Brook does, a seven point deficit seems like a fourteen point deficit.  Thus, try as they did, Maine could not get any closer than three points the rest of the way.  In fact, Maine only shot thirty percent in the second half.  It didn't help the Black Bears any that the Seawolves were eleven of fifteen from the line in the second half.

After Justin Edwards missed a three pointer with fourteen seconds left, it was only fitting that the heart and soul of the Seawolves, Tommy Brenton, would grab the rebound and dribble out the clock.  Stony Brook had a hard earned 55-48 win to clinch their second America East Regular Season Championship in the past three seasons.   This gives them the number one seed in the America East Tournament and if they win two games in Hartford, they will have home court advantage in the America East championship.

As the team celebrated by their bench hoisting the America East Regular Season Championship trophy, Coach Pikiell.took a microphone and walked to center court.  He first thanked the band, then the cheerleaders, then the Stony Brook community for all their support.  Pikiell then talked about Stony Brook setting a team record with a 14-2 conference record.  Finally, Pikiell spoke about how great and how classy his seniors were as a whole.   I had never seen a coach do that after a game and it was truly a classy gesture by Pikiell.

As Matthew and I left the Pritchard Gym to head to New Rochelle for our second and third games in our tripleheader of hoops, I talked to my older son about the possibility of being at Pritchard one more time.  That would be for the America East championship on March 10.   All the Seawolves have to do is win two games in Hartford next weekend.

There's no place I'd rather be on March 10 at 11:00 AM than Stony Brook, New York.  Make it happen, Seawolves.

Wolfie Celebrates His Birthday With a Win (Recap of UMBC vs. Stony Brook)

Seventeen years ago, Wolfie made his debut as the mascot of the Stony Brook Seawolves. Seventeen years ago, Stony Brook wasn't even a Division I basketball team at the time.  The Seawolves weren't Division I until 1999 and didn't join the America East until 2001.  But here we were on a Thursday night, seventeen years later celebrating Wolfie's birthday and also celebrating the fact that Stony Brook was leading the America East heading into their game against UMBC.

The night started with Matthew and I barely getting to the game on time due to having to drop off my younger son at my in-laws, since my wife was coming back from a work meeting in New Jersey.  But before we could get into Pritchard Gymnasium, Matthew had to have his pregame ritual; a pretzel and a bottle of water.

When we got to our seats, it wasn't long before there was a timeout on the court.  The Stony Brook cheerleaders then rolled out a red carpet for several guest mascots and then for the guest of honor, Wolfie Seawolf.   Matthew and I only recognized one mascot, QuackerJack, the intrepid mascot of the Long Island Ducks Atlantic League baseball team.   They might be now the best professional baseball team on Long Island, since that major league team in Queens is seemingly getting worse by the minute.

In their first matchup of the season, the Seawolves traveled down to Maryland and drubbed the Retrievers by forty points, 89-49.   So you would think that Matthew and I would see a similar result last night.  Well, that's why they play the game.

In the first half, UMBC shot the lights out, hitting on fifty nine percent of their shots (sixteen of twenty seven).  However the Retrievers only led by one at the half, because the Seawolves had six three pointers in the first twenty minutes to keep the game close.  Considering UMBC came into the game with a record of 3-20, I kept saying to Matthew, this might be the best the Retrievers have shot from the field in a half for the entire season.

At halftime, everyone was invited to the concourse to have cupcakes in celebration of Wolfie's birthday.  However, Matthew and I chose to stay in the gym and watch the halftime CYO game.   Matthew had also brought with him my younger son's Wolfie Seawolf doll to the game.  I have to admit, the doll's facial features make it more imposing than the real life Wolfie.

The start of the second half saw Stony Brook briefly take the lead on a layup by Bryan Dougher.  But Ryan Cook and Chase Plummer responded with two three pointers to put UMBC back up by five, 41-36.  Seawolves' coach Steve Pikiell immediately called up timeout.  The fans near me couldn't believe how well the Retrievers were shooting on the night.

But Stony Brook would respond with a run and it was due in large part to their heart and soul; junior forward Tommy Brenton.  Brenton sat out most of the first half with two fouls and if you have seen enough Seawolves' games this season like I have, you know that he gives his team so much energy.

Over the course of eight minutes, Stony Brook would outscore UMBC 19-6.  During that run, Brenton played a major part.  He had five assists, three rebounds and a layup.  He also drew a pivotal fourth offensive foul on Plummer, the Retrievers' leading scorer, which sent Plummer to the bench.  With eight minutes left, the Seawolves were up eight.

During a media timeout, they had a Price is Right game with several Stony Brook students.  The question was "Tommy Brenton has the all time Stony Brook record for rebounds in a game.  How many rebounds did he have?"   The answer was seventeen.  It was very appropriate that the question was based on Brenton.

Much to their credit, UMBC refused to quit.  They kept the game within single digits and after a Brian Neller three pointer, the Retrievers were only down four, 64-60 with just less than three minutes left.  UMBC certainly did not look like a 3-20 team last night.

But eventually Stony Brook wore them down.  The Seawolves would outscore the Retrievers 16-8 the rest of the way.  At the end of the game, it was only fitting that Brenton again was involved.  He grabbed his sixth rebound of the game with six seconds left.  After he had grabbed the ball away from UMBC's Chandler Thomas, Thomas took offense and pulled away his arm.  Thomas drew a technical foul and Dougher hit two free throws for the final score of 80-68.

For UMBC, Plummer led all scorers with eighteen points.  Neller had eleven points and Ryan Cook added ten points.  The Retrievers played hard all night and they seemed a lot better than a 3-20 team.  They were certainly better than four teams that I had personally seen this season, two of whom UMBC beat; Binghamton and Towson (the other two teams are FDU and Colgate).  If they keep playing like this, I could see the Retrievers surprising some team in the America East tournament if that team isn't ready for them.

For Stony Brook, Anthony Jackson was the leading scorer with seventeen points for Stony Brook.  Dougher added sixteen, while Marcus Rouse and Dallas Joyner had fourteen points each.  Brenton only had three points on the night, but he had seven assists, six rebounds and a lasting impression on my six year old son.  Brenton is one of Matthew's favorite players.

As for Wolfie, he got lots of presents and adulation from his fans and his fellow mascot friends.  And of course, Wolfie led the way during the "Cotton Eye Joe" kids' dance.   Happy Birthday, Wolfie!

Hopefully Wolfie enjoyed the birthday present from his Seawolves;  their eighth straight win overall and their thirteenth straight home win.   Stony Brook is now 17-7 overall and 12-1 in the America East.   Too bad ESPN doesn't know how good the Seawolves are, since they were shunned from a televised BracketBuster game.

Hopefully soon enough, everyone will know how good the Seawolves really are.

SUNY Supremacy (Recap of Albany vs. Stony Brook)

The universities in the State of New York school system used to be known with their names starting with SUNY.  There was SUNY Stony Brook, SUNY Albany and SUNY Binghamton, to name a few.   They are officially known as the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the State University of New York at Albany and the State University of New York at Binghamton.

But several years ago, the schools decided to wisely market themselves without the SUNY in front of the name.  SUNY Stony Brook became Stony Brook University.  SUNY Albany became University at Albany and SUNY Binghamton became Binghamton University.  You no longer hear the term SUNY for the most part.

Like the name changes, the schools have a recent history of being Division I basketball programs.  Albany and Stony Brook both became Division I programs in 1999 and joined the America East in 2001.  Binghamton became a Division I program in 2001 and joined the America East the same year.  You could say the SUNY schools saved the America East from extinction after Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson left the America East for the CAA.

All three schools also have had recent success in the America East.  Albany won the America East Tournament Championship two years in a row in 2006 and 2007.   Binghamton won the America East Tournament Championship in 2009, albeit under controversy that set their program back years.  Stony Brook won the 2009-10 regular season America East Championship and barely lost in the tournament championship game in 2011 to Boston University.

In the 2011-12 season, two of the three schools have had some success.  Binghamton of course might go winless for the entire season.  But entering the game, Albany at 10-6 and 2-0 in conference and Stony Brook at 8-7 and 2-0 in conference have been carrying the SUNY flag.  And on Sunday, the teams faced each other with at least a share of the America East conference lead on the line.  You could say the game was for "SUNY Supremacy" of men's college basketball.

It was doubleheader day at Pritchard Gym, as the men's 2:00 P.M. game was the first game followed by the women's 5:00 P.M. game.   Despite a local New York football team having a home playoff game on TV during the game time start of the men's game, the gym was again full of red in support of the home team.  And the home team didn't disappoint its fans.

The game was tied early on at twelve with twelve minutes left in the first half.  It was a contrast of styles as the Great Danes scored all their points on four three pointers.  Meanwhile, the Seawolves hit six of their first ten shots, all two pointers.

But the Seawolves would go on a 19-6 run over the next five minutes.  And it was an unlikely source leading the way for Stony Brook.  Anthony Jackson, a reserve sophomore guard who only averages four points per game, would bury two three pointers during the run.  Stony Brook was up 31-18 with five minutes left.

Entering the game, Albany had one of the leading scorers in the country, junior Gerardo Suero, who averages twenty two points per game.  And it was Suero and fellow junior guard Mike Black, who kept the Great Danes in the game, as they combined to score Albany's first twenty points.   The Great Danes also had nine offensive rebounds in the first half,  which allowed them to have ten more field goal attempts than the Seawolves.  Despite Stony Brook shooting eighteen of twenty five from the field in the first half, the Seawolves were only up 44-33 at the half.

Albany Coach Will Brown must not have been too happy with his team's defensive performance in the first half.  The Great Danes didn't come out onto the court until three minutes prior to the start of the second half.   You figured Albany would come right out and get back in the game.

But the 2011-12 college basketball season has been hard to predict so far and sure enough, so was the start of the second half.  It must have been something Head Coach Steve Pickiell said at halftime, as Stony Brook came out and picked up where they left off in the first half.  The Seawolves went on a 12-4 spurt led by Bryan Dougher's two three pointers.  At the TV timeout with 15:41 left, Stony Brook was up 55-37.

I was at the game on Sunday with my two sons, Matthew and Jonathan, along with Matthew's friend Stephen and his mom, April, a friend of mine. Stony Brook makes their games family friendly.  This game was no exception. There was a halftime CYO game, a bouncy hippo race and as always the Cotton Eyed Joe dance, led by the Seawolves' intrepid mascot, Wolfie. Wolfie worked the crowd the entire game as I high fived him at least twice and waved one other time.  He also had his typical second half "Shake Weight" distraction, which always gets a laugh out of me.

The lead was still seventeen, 59-42 with about twelve and a half minutes left.  It looked like Albany was done for the day.  But when you have one of the leading scorers in the country, you are never out of the game. And sure enough, Suero became a one man wrecking crew for the Danes.  He scored ten of Albany's next sixteen points and the Great Danes were down only by nine, 67-58 with a little less than seven minutes left.

But the Seawolves and Dougher in particular were too much for the Great Danes.  He hit two more three pointers to put Stony Brook up fifteen, 79-64 with a little more than about two and a half minutes left.   The Seawolves went onto win 81-68 and temporarily take over sole possession of first place in the America East.  Maine is the only other undefeated team in conference but has played one less game.

For Stony Brook, Dougher scored fifteen of his nineteen points in the second half, all on three pointers.  Dallas Joyner had a double double with fifteen points and eleven rebounds and Jackson had eleven points.  The Seawolves had great balance on offense as eight players had at least six points or more in the game.

For Albany, Suero had a game high twenty eight points, including fifteen in the second half.  Logan Aronhalt added eighteen points and Black had fourteen points for the Great Danes. However, those three players combined for sixty of Albany's sixty eight points.

As we left Pritchard Gym, my younger son Jonathan was clutching his little Wolfie doll, which I got for him at the Stony Brook merchandise stand outside of the gym.  A nice memento for him to remember this day.  As for me, my memento was another good forty minutes of live college basketball.

Seawolves Ring in the New Year on a High Note (Recap of Rider vs. Stony Brook)

Last night was the second game I saw in Pritchard Gym in three days.  On Wednesday, Stony Brook gave up a twenty point lead to Cornell but won in overtime 68-59.  This time the defensive minded Seawolves were hosting the Broncs of Rider.  It was the last non-conference game for both teams before conference play truly begins (MAAC teams each have already had two conference games, America East teams start conference play next week).

The Seawolves were trying to win their second game in a row in a string of three straight contests at Pritchard Gym.  On Monday, they start conference play at home vs. Vermont.  Stony Brook was looking to keep the momentum against a Rider team that has struggled on the season.  The Broncs were coming into the night having won two games in a row after losing ten of their first eleven.  This season has been a far cry from last season for Coach Tommy Dempsey as the Broncs were 23-11 last season and finished third in the MAAC with a 13-5 conference record.

Pritchard Gym wasn't as filled as it was for the Wednesday night game against Cornell.  But there was still a solid crowd and a lot of kids would be a part of the Cotton Eyed Joe dance performance later on in the evening.  The crowd would also be treated to another solid Stony Brook performance as well.

You could immediately tell that Rider was in for a long night when the Broncs started the game off with a shot clock violation.  In fairness to Rider, Stony Brook's man to man defense was quite stingy last evening.  The Broncs had a turnover in four of their first five possessions (including the shot clock violation).  This allowed Stony Brook to jump out to a 14-4 lead with 14:35 left as six different Seawolves scored.

Rider rallied to cut the lead to 16-12 as Virginia transfer Jeff Jones buried two three pointers.  Jones played three seasons at Charlottesville, but decided to transfer to Rider probably due to a lack of playing time.  Watching him hit five shots from beyond the arc on the night, you could see he certainly is a high level talent.  Unfortunately he waited three seasons before making his decision.  Now he only has this season left to play.

Four points would be the closest the Broncs would get the rest of the way.  That's because Stony Brook went on a 18-2 run over the span of nearly nine minutes.  That was due mainly the Seawolves using their staple, the three point shot.  Stony Brook hit three shots from beyond the arc during that span to go up 34-14 with about two and half minutes left.

But the Seawolves run also came due in large part to the hardest working player in the America East, Tommy Brenton.  Watching Brenton hustle all over the court, force turnovers and see him work the glass is an absolute treat.  He is only six foot five, but he plays like he is six foot nine on the boards.  He started the run with a jumper and kept one possession alive with an offensive rebound, one of his twelve rebounds on the night.

But my favorite Brenton play would not show up on the stat sheet.  Later in the first half when Rider missed on a long jumper, he literally cleared his man out, backing into him with his arms spread out making sure that player never had a chance to touch the ball.  Another Stony Brook player grabbed the rebound, but it was a literal clinic by Brenton on how to box out your man.

Rider went into the half down 37-19.  They only had twenty shots in the first half while Stony Brook had thirty three.  A lot of this was due to the Seawolves having nine offensive rebounds and forcing ten Broncs' turnovers.  Meanwhile, Stony Brook only had one turnover in the first half.  Ball possession is always key in basketball and the Seawolves did an excellent job of that in the first twenty minutes.

Rider came out in a half court trap in the second half trying desperately to get back in the game.  And it slowly worked for the Broncs.  Rider finally used its height advantage and went inside to Daniel Stewart.  Stewart scored nine of Rider's seventeen points over the first seven and half minutes.   Stewart's last points of the span cut the lead to 46-36 with twelve and a half minutes left.   The Broncs finally were back in the game.

But Stony Brook stretched the lead back out to sixteen, 52-36 with 11:15 left as back to back three pointers by Bryan Dougher and Dave Coley.  It meant Rider would have to work hard again to get the lead back to single digits, eating up precious time and effort.   The Broncs would get as close as nine points, 59-50 with a little less than seven minutes left, as four of their last five baskets in that time frame were three pointers.

In Wednesday night's game, the Seawolves' intrepid mascot, Wolfie, pulled out a "shake weight" in the second half.  And he used that as a distraction to the Cornell players shooting free throws, as they missed three free throws in a row.  So sure enough, last night in the second half Wolfie tried the "shake weight" distraction again.  However it had no effect on the Rider players as they hit every free throw when he tried distracting the players.  Wolfie finally slumped his head in disappointment on the last free throw made.

But that was the only disappointment on the evening for the Seawolves, as they  would score twenty of the last thirty two points in the game to win 79-62. And it was a team effort as four Stony Brook players scored in double figures led by Coley, who had sixteen points.  Dallas Joyner had fifteen points while Dougher scored fourteen and Al Rapier added twelve points.  Brenton just missed a double double with nine points and twelve rebounds.    Rider was led by Jones' seventeen points, Stewart added eleven and Brandon Penn had a double double with ten points and eleven rebounds.

As the teams left the court, one team, Stony Brook, left knowing they would ring in the new year on a high note.  They shot forty nine percent on the night and had only seven turnovers on offense.  Coach Pikiell had to be pleased with his team's effort last night.

The other team, Rider, left wondering what has happened in the span of several months.  They had eleven losses all last season.  Now they have as many losses this season after just fourteen games.  Coach Tommy Dempsey must be shaking his head at this moment in disbelief

As for Rider's sudden turnaround, all I can think is what Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall once said in an interview with Kyle Whelliston, "The game will hurt you".