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.

College Hoops Again Provide a Welcome Respite (Recap of FDU vs Stony Brook)

Watching live college basketball games, something I absolutely love, has been an outlet for me since I really started following Hofstra in the early 2000's.  Previously, I had enjoyed college hoops for years and I attended many games at MSG.  But when I truly became a fan of college basketball and Hofstra in particular, I found an avenue for anxiety, stress, even loss.  I could completely become engrossed in a game; the nuances of ball movement and defenses, marvel at the athleticism and skill of players, and the game management of knowledgeable coaches.  Throw in an occasional yell at bad officiating and I had my two hour world of complete bliss, a welcome respite from the various things going on in my world.

This is a hectic time of season at work.  Four weeks each year, two in the spring semester and two in the fall semester, I am involved in administering exams to nearly eleven hundred students.  For students and administrators alike, it's a stressful period of time.  One where I desperately look for avenues to decompress.   Thankfully, I can rely on my old friend, college basketball.

I didn't originally plan to attend last night's Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Stony Brook contest.  But when I reviewed yesterday's college basketball schedule, I realized that I could make the game.  Thus, I jumped at the chance to drive out to the campus of Stony Brook.

The last time I was at Stony Brook, I was there in March of 2010 when they hosted a first round NIT game vs. Illinois, due to a conflict with Illinois' home court.   The game was held at Stony Brook Arena, which is now being renovated, That night, it was an entire sea of Seawolves' red,  The game was sold out with both student sections under the baskets packed with SBU fans hungry for a giant RLU.  Stony Brook jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but eventually Illinois overcame an electric partisan Seawolves crowd and won 76-66, spoiling Stony Brook's first ever Division I postseason game.

Stony Brook's opponent last night, FDU, is a school where I have some second person knowledge of their greatest all time basketball player.  Several of my Glen Cove friends, particularly my friend Mal, went to high school with Desi Wilson.  Desi, who is listed at six foot seven and about 230 pounds, was a two sport star at Glen Cove in basketball and baseball.  Mal describes Desi as laid back and very friendly.  Desi went on to star at FDU and was the NEC player of the year for the 1989-1990 season.  That season he averaged over twenty points per game and nine rebounds per game. He is also a member of the NEC's 25th Anniversary Team.

Desi left the Knights after his junior year after being drafted by the Texas Rangers.  He was traded to the San Francisco Giants with Rich Aurilia for John Burkett.  He was a career .300 hitter in the minors and played one season with the Giants in 1996, hitting .271 in 118 at bats.  Unfortunately, Desi didn't hit for much power and was back in the minors the next year.  He had a long successful minor league career and even played overseas.  Due to his ability to hit for average, he ended up becoming a hitting coach and is currently the hitting coach for the Boise Hawks, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.

The attendance for last night's contest was nowhere near the 4400 people that attended the Illinois game in March 2010.  Also, due to the arena being renovated, the game was held in the intimate confines of Pritchard Gym, which holds 1700.  Still, there was a good crowd for the game.  And again, there was a good amount of red in the stands, not just from the students, but from alumni and families that came to the game.  I was impressed with the support the Seawolves were getting and they didn't let their fans down.

The teams both struggled from the field in the first half but seemingly for different reasons.   Stony Brook played tough defense on FDU and caused numerous Knights' turnovers, twelve in the first half.  Meanwhile, the Seawolves were missing several open shots.   Stony Brook was only up two, 20-18 with five and half minutes left before they finished the half on a 10-4 run due in large part to guard Dave Coley.   The score at the half was SBU 30 FDU 22.  The Knights were fortunate to be only down eight thanks to their forward George Goode, who had eight points and eight rebounds in the first half.

Surprisingly there was no halftime entertainment, so the fans were left to their own devices.  In my case, it was a celebrity sighting.  Mick Foley, WWE wrestling star, lives in Stony Brook and sure enough he was at the game.  He spoke to the Stony Brook radio crew during halftime.  Alas, there was no confirmed sighting of Mr. Socko at the game.

No doubt spurred on by the appearance of Mr. Foley, the Seawolves came out and blitzed the Knights at the start of the second half.  Stony Brook started nailing those open jumpers and when they missed, they grabbed offensive rebounds and got second chance points.  Meanwhile, FDU committed five turnovers and missed on their first nine field goal attempts.  Barely six minutes into the second half, SBU was up twenty, 44-24.

And it didn't get any better for the Knights.  They only scored five points over the next seven minutes.  The score was now 57-29 with seven minutes left in the game. Yes, a lot of this had to do with Fairleigh Dickinson not being a good team whatsoever.  Even Desi Wilson in his prime couldn't have helped the Knights to a victory last night.

But Steve Pickiell's Seawolves played really hard for the entire forty minutes.  You could see why Stony Brook won the America East regular season title in the 2009-10 season and came within an eyelash of defeating Boston University in the America East championship game last season.  They continued to play tough defense even up by twenty eight points.

Pickiell worked the referees the entire night, getting underneath their skins.  After one conversation with an official, Pickiell walked away.  The official then shook his head in disbelief.  The Seawolves' head coach was as relentless as his team was last night.

When the game is for all intensive purposes over, you look for other things to keep you interested during the last few minutes  First, during the next to last TV timeout, the dance team brought out lots of kids from the crowd to dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe".  Then a few minutes later, as Goode attempted a free throw, the Seawolves mascot, Wolfie, shook a "Shake Weight" to try to distract him.  It didn't work, but it had to be the most creative distraction and best use of a "Shake Weight" so far this basketball season.

The Seawolves would end up winning 70-46.  Coley led all scorers with sixteen points.  Goode had a double double for the Knights scoring thirteen points and grabbing eleven rebounds.  FDU had more turnovers, twenty one, than field goals, seventeen.  You're not going to win too many games with stats like that.

As I headed for the exit, Mick Foley was still sitting in his seat, shaking hands with fans.  I came up to him and shook his hand as well, an added bonus to a fun night.   Once again, college basketball was a welcome respite to a long day.
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