An Elite Program Grows in Stony Brook (Recap of Cornell v. Stony Brook)

When we planned our holiday vacation trip up to New York to visit family and friends, we had split the trip into two days, as we always do when we drive from Columbia to New York and vice versa.  Since we could only leave late Saturday afternoon, we made our halfway point Richmond.   That meant that the rest of the trip on Sunday, if all went well, would be six hours.  We left Richmond at 8:00 A.M. because I had plans that involved seeing one of my favorite college basketball teams Sunday evening.   

But if anyone knows I-95, the New Jersey Turnpike or Belt Parkway well, what should be a six hour trip often turns out to be a longer excursion due to delays.  We briefly got caught up around Landover, Maryland due to rubbernecking from an accident going the opposite direction as well as a nasty rainstorm.  Then on the Jersey Turnpike, a much longer delay due to the same thing, rubbernecking from an accident in the opposite direction.   Then at the Belt Parkway, the longest delay due to nothing more than traffic.  Typical for the Belt.  In total, an hour and 15 minutes of delays.

When I got to my wife's parents in Levittown at about 4:15 yesterday, I was very frustrated, figuring that it would take me 45 minutes to get to Stony Brook and that I wouldn't make the 5:00 P.M. start of Cornell vs. Stony Brook.

Thankfully, there was one thing wrong in this scenario that actually worked in my favor.  The Cornell - Stony Brook game actually started at 6:00 P.M.   So once I happily realized that fact, I made the drive to Stony Brook in 45 minutes.  I was very grateful to see one of the best mid major college basketball programs in the country, a program I covered many times in the recent years before I moved to South Carolina.

Steve Pikiell was named head coach of Stony Brook in 2005.  In his first three seasons, the Seawolves combined record was 20-67.   Wisely, the Stony Brook administration stuck with Pikiell and they were rewarded with a 16-14 record in the 2008-09 season.  Then in 2009-10, the Seawolves went 22-10, won the America East Regular season championship and received their first ever NIT bid.   In 2010-11, though Stony Brook slipped to 15-17, they made the America East Tournament Championship and came within a whisker of knocking off Boston University.  In each of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, Stony Brook again won the regular season America East Championship and received a NIT bid.   In the two previous seasons, the Seawolves are a combined 47-18 as well as 28-4 in regular season America East play.

As I noted in a previous post, it was good to be back seeing New York basketball in a small gym/arena.  As I entered the Stony Brook Athletic Center, the basketball gods were kind to me.    Seeing I needed a ticket, a season ticket holder had an extra ticket and offered it to me for $10, $4 less than the normal cost.  I gladly obliged and then when I found my seat, it was basically center court in a gym that was nicely packed considering it was the weekend before Christmas.

Sunday, the Seawolves hosted the Big Red of Cornell.   Considering the season, Pritchard Gym seemed very festive as it was a sea of red.   Stony Brook was looking for its ninth win of the season.  Meanwhile, Cornell, which went to three straight NCAA Tournaments and a Sweet 16 in the 2009-10 season under former coach Steve Donahue, has fallen on hard times.  The Big Red have not had a winning season since that magical 2009-10 season and came into yesterday's game winless at 0-10 on the season.

The Seawolves jumped out quickly to an 8-0 lead. It was due in large part to the best big man in local tri state college basketball, Jameel Warney.   A fan sitting next to me said it best "Warney is all over the place".  Early on, he was, whether it was scoring underneath, grabbing a rebound or boxing out an opponent on a loose ball.    The Seawolves extended it to a 15-3 lead on a Carson Puriefoy steal and layup. 

But the Big Red would respond with a 15-3 run of their own to tie the game at eighteen on a Dominick Scelfo jumper.  Cornell did this by moving the ball around really well on offense.   At that point, the Big Red didn't seem like a winless team to me.  

Stony Brook would answer with a 20-6 spurt to end the half.  The Seawolves started the run by working the ball into Warney for an easy layup.  Then Dave Coley and Eric McAlister each had a three pointer.  Finally, Stony Brook was a perfect eight for eight from the free throw line during that seven minute stretch.   Still, Coach Pikiell was not pleased to give up an easy layup right at the end of the half.   The Seawolves went into halftime up 38-24.

At halftime, I met up with Carson Puriefoy's dad, Carson Puriefoy Sr, a star guard in his own right at Bucknell.  I've got to known him through my blog and he's just a terrific person.   Carson was kind enough to ask the new Interim Athletic Director of Stony Brook, Donna Woodruff to give us a tour of the new Stony Brook Arena, which is located right across from Pritchard Gym in the Athletic Center.    She was very gracious, giving us her time to get the door unlocked and gave us a tour of the new facility.  

The arena, which will open in Fall 2014, simply looks fantastic.   It has two large video screens and two large scoreboards, one of each on each end of the court.  There is a lot of individual seating, luxury box suites and what will be a huge concessions stand.   From where we were standing, there is a perfect sightline for a camera shot of the arena floor.  It's simply going to be a first class arena.

After the tour, I got back to my seat a few minutes into the second half.  As I sat down, I saw that the Seawolves had extended their lead to sixteen, 43-27 with sixteen minutes left in the game.  The lead would grown even further the next few minutes, as Puriefoy would bury a three to give Stony Brook a 48-27 lead.  

The Big Red would cut lead down to sixteen, 48-32 with fifteen minutes left.  But Puriefoy would find Warney with a really nice pass for a layup and one, his first of two three point plays in a 21-7 run over eight minutes that put the game away for the Seawolves.  A McAlister three pointer gave Stony Brook a 69-39 lead with a little under eight minutes left. 

During this run, the Seawolves showed good ball movement and balanced scoring on offense, while showing their trademark defense and rebounding.   Having watched enough college basketball over the years, I can honestly say that I have not seen a team with better help defense than Stony Brook under Pikiell.   The Seawolves just converge on the ball.  Also, they box out very well on rebounding.  The Seawolves outrebounded Cornell yesterday 47-32.

Unlike a FDU team that I saw on this same court over two years ago,  Cornell did not give up.  The Big Red went on a 15-4 run to cut the lead to nineteen, 73-54 with two plus minutes left in the game.  I assure you Big Red fans, Cornell will not go winless this season.

It was at this time that Pikiell emptied his bench.  Seldom used Kameron Mitchell ended the scoring with a pretty up and under bank shot to give Stony Brook a 76-54 win.  

The Seawolves got balanced scoring as four of their players scored in double figures.  Coley, who scored his 1000th career point during the game, led all scorers with fifteen points.  Warney added fourteen points and seven rebounds, Puriefoy added thirteen points off the bench and Ahmad Walker added twelve points.  Had it not been for missing both free throws at the line late in the game, McAlister would have had a double double as well.  He finished with nine points and eleven rebounds.  Devin Cherry and Daryl Smith led Cornell with eleven points each.

As I left Pritchard Gym, I came away impressed with Stony Brook.  But it was not just the basketball team, it was the entire athletics program.   Over the past few years under Jim Fiore and now Donna Woodruff, Stony Brook has had a football team become a power in the FCS, a baseball team that made the College World Series, a basketball team that has made the NIT in three of the last four seasons, a new weight room and soon a new basketball arena.   

When I told my friend and fellow Little League coach in Columbia Chris Moseley that I was going to see Stony Brook play Sunday, he asked me how the basketball team compared to the baseball team.   The Seawolves Athletic Program is that well known now.   If Pikiell can lead the Seawolves to their first ever NCAA berth, the program will get even more recognition. 

Seawolves Win On Super Saturday (Recap of Canisius vs. Stony Brook)

Being able to come to New York for Thanksgiving to see my wife and kids gave me the opportunity on Saturday to see one of my favorite teams, the Stony Brook Seawolves. The Seawolves were hosting the Canisus Golden Griffins as part of Stony Brook's Super Saturday.  The men's basketball game was moved up to a noon start time because the football team was hosting a game of their own, a FBS playoff game vs. Villanova.

If you follow Stony Brook Athletics, you could say it was not just a Super Saturday, but a Super Year for the Seawolves.  In the beginning of the year, the men's basketball team won the America East Regular Season Championship, then lost in the tournament final at home to Vermont.  It was their only loss of the season at home, but they did get a NIT bid, their second in the past three seasons.

Then the baseball team had one of the more amazing runs ever in the history of NCAA Division I college baseball postseason.  The Seawolves stunned LSU in Baton Rouge to qualify for the College World Series.  Now the football team was hosting another playoff game after making the Football Subdivision playoffs last season.

As noted, the men's team has been very successful the last three seasons.  Including the two NIT appearances in the 2009-10 and 2011-12 seasons, the Seawolves also made the America East championship game in the 2010-11 season as well.  Stony Brook would lose that game in the last seconds to Boston University.  Coach Steve Pikiell has built a strong program and he is looking to finally break the glass ceiling and make the NCAA Tournament this season with a veteran team.

Pikiell's 2012-13 Seawolves have several returning players including Dave Coley, Ron Bracey, Anthony Jackson, Marcus Rouse and Alex McAllister.  But the one returning player my color analyst,aka my seven year old son Matthew, was looking forward to see again was the preseason America East Player of the Year, senior forward Tommy Brenton, the hardest working man in college basketball.

Brenton is a man in constant motion. He averages five assists per game. If he is not setting up a player for a basket, he is setting a pick, or blocking out for a rebound, or hustling for a loose ball. Or in the case of the beginning of this game, Brenton was causing turnovers.  Brenton caused a turnover by pressuring a Golden Griffin player to step out of bounds on the opening tip.  He then stole the ball another two times early in the game.  Meanwhile, Jackson buried two three pointers and the Seawolves were up 11-2 not even four minutes into the game.

A season ago, this likely would have been another thrashing for Canisius.  Last season, the Golden Griffins team won all of five games.  But in the offseason, Tom Parrotta was fired and former Rhode Island coach, Jimmy Baron was brought in.  Baron brought his son Billy with him. The Barons already have given the Canisius faithful some hope.  The Golden Griffins came into the game undefeated at 3-0 with wins over Boston University, Saint Bonaventure and Buffalo.

Canisius showed why they are 3-0 by responding with a 12-3 run over the next four plus minutes. The Griffs, as they are known as, used their size advantage with Jordan Heath and Freddy Asprilla.  The Canisius big men helped cut the deficit to one, 15-14.

But a Stony Brook big man responded with a run of his own.  Freshman Jameel Warney would score the next nine Seawolves points. His three point play would make the score 24-14 with just less than nine minutes left.  Varney is quite impressive, with good post moves, a nice touch, relentless on the glass and plays as if he is a junior or senior.  Pikiell has a real find in the six foot eight inch forward from Plainfield, New Jersey.

A Rouse three extended the Stony Brook lead to 27-16.  But Canisius refused to go away.  Led by Harold Washington, Alshwan Hymes and Billy Baron, the Griffs and cut the lead down to six.  The Seawolves would lead 36-30 at the half.

Early on in the second half, my color analyst pointed out to me something that I believe would lead to some chippy play and frustrations later on in the half.  About three and a half minutes into the second half, Matthew pointed out to the scoreboard and said "They already have five fouls?!" Sure enough, the Griffs had been called for five fouls and the Seawolves only one.  A few Griffs' fans behind me had been chirping about the foul calls the entire game.

This might have led to some tempers flaring when Coley and Jordan Heath had an altercation near the Canisius basket after a foul by Carson Puriefoy.  Simultaneous technical fouls were called on Coley and Heath.  Also, Griffs' freshman Tyrel Edwards was ejected for leaving the bench.  Billy Baron made two free throws and Canisius was now down only two 43-41.

But Brenton and Warney made sure the Griffs would get no closer.  Led by the senior and the freshman, the Seawolves went on a 15-3 run over the next four minutes.  It would be capped by a floater from the freshman Puriefoy. I remember watching his dad, who was a three year starting guard at Bucknell and  I have got to know over Twitter (@CarsonPuriefoy).  His dad came over to meet me before the game.  As I noted on Twitter, it was my honor to meet him.

During this run, Coach Baron received a technical, likely frustrated by the foul call situation.  But his team did not lose its fighting spirit.  The Griffs would cut the lead down to six with a little over a minute left.  But Canisius would not get any closer as the Seawolves would hit their free throws, going 27 of 31 for the game.  Stony Brook would lead wire to wire and win 82-75.

Brenton, was the ultimate stat sheet stuffer on the day.  He just missed a double double with nine points, fourteen rebounds, six assists and three steals.  Jackson led Stony Brook with twenty one points. Warney added eighteen points while Coley contributed fourteen points.  The Seawolves also outrebounded the Griffs 40-26.

Billy Baron led all scorers with twenty two points, including ten of eleven from the free throw line. Jordan Heath had fifteen points and Washington added fourteen. The Griffs are now 3-1 on the season.

On Super Saturday, the men's basketball team held up their end of the bargain. Then the football team held up their end as well, defeating Villanova 20-10 in the first round of the Football Subdivision playoffs.  Miguel Maysonet, the nation's leading rusher in yards per game, had one hundred and sixty yards rushing.

For Stony Brook, it was truly a Super Saturday.

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.

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".

Forty Five Minutes in a Sea of Red (Recap of Cornell vs. Stony Brook)

If red is your favorite color, then last night's Cornell vs. Stony Brook contest was the game for you.  You had the Big Red taking on the Seawolves, whose motto on their tickets is "Get Your Red On, It's What We Do".  Needless to say, the crowd was dressed for one of the preferred colors of the holiday season.

The last time I saw Cornell was at Madison Square Garden in December of 2009. They had just won the Holiday Invitational, defeating St John's, who of course are the Red Storm, thus we are continuing with the red motif.  The Big Red would eventually make the Sweet Sixteen that 2009-10 season, which actually wasn't that much of a surprise to me, having seen them play.

Since then, Steve Donahue parlayed that Sweet Sixteen and the two previous seasons' NCAA Tournament bids into a head coaching position at Boston College.  Meanwhile after Donahue left and Louis Dale, Ryan Wittman and Jeff Foote all graduated, Cornell struggled to a 10-18 record last season.  Of the five players that remain from that Sweet Sixteen team, only Chris Wroblewski, a starter that season, saw significant minutes in 2009-10.  The Big Red entered last night's contest at 4-6.

The last time I saw Stony Brook, they were putting a whipping on FDU, beating the Knights 70-46.  It was their last win going into last night.  Still, the Seawolves had another good crowd fill Pritchard Gym last evening despite school not being in session due to the holiday break.  They also had a lively and talented pep band that during pre-game warmups chanted out the names of the Stony Brook players similar to the Yankee Stadium Bleacher Creatures.

But unlike the FDU game,  there was no Mick Foley in attendance last night.  Perhaps he had a date with Mr. Socko.  Also, I can't confirm whether or not James or Marilyn Simons were in attendance last night, though they certainly could afford season tickets.

The game started off with both teams struggling to put the ball in the basket.  Similar to their game against FDU,  Steve Pikiell's Stony Brook team played excellent man to man defense on Cornell.  The Big Red often put up their shots with little time left on the shot clock.   Meanwhile Stony Brook only attempted three shots in the first nearly five minutes and they scored all their points on free throws by Tommy Brenton.  With a little more than fifteen minutes left in the first half, the score was tied at 3-3.

Finally, the Seawolves briefly broke the scoring drought on a layup by Al Rapier to go up 5-3.  Baskets were still hard to come by in the first ten minutes.  With Stony Brook hitting the occasional three, the Seawolves starting inching out their lead, going up 14-7 with less than nine minutes left in the first half.   However, it seemed there was a good chance that neither Stony Brook or Cornell would break twenty points by halftime.

But then Bryan Dougher caught fire for the Seawolves.  He preceded to score eight straight points which was part of a 19-2 Stony Brook run over the span of eight minutes.  The Seawolves were now up 27-9 with less than five minutes left in the first half.  After the media timeout, Cornell managed to finally hit some shots, scoring more points in four minutes and twenty three seconds, eleven, then they did in the beginning fifteen plus minutes of the game, nine.  They cut what once was a twenty point lead down to fifteen as Stony Brook went into the half up fifteen, 35-20.

Stony Brook not only has a talented band, but also a very talented mascot in Wolfie.  Now Wolfie looks like a regular wolf, not a seawolf (whatever that looks like), and he is very involved in all aspects of the game.  First and foremost, he leads the team cheers and is the lead distraction when the opponent shoots free throws.  Second, he leads the late second half media timeout kids dance to "Cotton Eyed Joe".  Wolfie also has his own Twitter account, @WolfieSeawolf.  He is so talented that he was twittering game updates while refereeing a faculty staff halftime game at the same time.  Wolfie would become a huge factor late in the second half.

Whatever coach Bill Courtney said to his players at halftime worked, because I saw a different Cornell team in the second half.  They came out in a half court trap defense which threw Stony Brook off their game as they had eleven turnovers in the second half.  Now it was the Seawolves who were struggling to score on offense.  They would only score sixteen points over the next twenty minutes.

On offense, the Big Red looked much more alive, working the ball around for open looks.  Combine that with their successful half court trap and as a result, Cornell started slowly cutting into Stony Brook's lead and briefly had it down to single digits.  Still with six and a half minutes remaining in the game, the Seawolves were still up eleven, 49-38.

But that's when Cornell made their first run of the game.  Over the next five plus minutes, the Big Red outscored the Seawolves 13-0.  This was due in large part to a) Stony Brook committing five turnovers in this span, b) The Seawolves taking too much time off the clock on several of their possessions late in the game and c) Drew Ferry, who buried three shots from beyond the arc, the last of which put Cornell up 51-49 with 1:18 left in the game.

The Big Red might have had a bigger lead had it not been for Wolfie.  During the second half of the FDU game, Wolfie pulled out a "Shake Weight" and used that as a distraction when the Knights shot a couple of free throws late in the game.  Wolfie pulled the "Shake Weight" out again last night.  Sure enough, the distraction worked, as Cornell missed three free throws in a row due to Stony Brook's industrious mascot.

Still, the Seawolves needed to tie a game where they had been up by twenty points at one time. And Stony Brook got that on a layup by Ron Bracey with fifty seven seconds left.   The Big Red now had a chance to win the game, but Ferry missed an open three pointer.  Cornell got the rebound and worked down the clock for the final shot.  But Galal Cancer missed a jumper and we headed for overtime tied at 51.

In the overtime, it came down to mostly a free throw shooting contest.  The Seawolves scored nine of their fifteen overtime points from the charity stripe. Tommy Brenton had seven points during the extra period, five from the line.  The other two came on a breakaway dunk that ended the game as Stony Brook defeated Cornell 68-59.

Dougher and Bracey each had sixteen points to lead the Seawolves.  Brenton added twelve points and Dave Coley had ten points.  Ferry led the Big Red with fifteen points and Shonn Miller added ten points.  The big difference came at the line.  Stony Brook was 19 of 28 from the charity stripe while Cornell was only 8 of 17.  Give Wolfie a big assist on that statistic.

The Seawolves' next home game is Friday as they take on the Raiders of Colgate.  It just so happens that Colgate's road uniform color is maroon, which is of course an off shoot of red.  Hey, it is the preferred color of choice this holiday season.  Guess I will have to find something in red to wear for Friday night's game.

Just remember to bring the red "Shake Weight", okay Wolfie?