Stony Brook happy to be host for Vermont
Stony Brook guard Marcus Rouse controls the ball as Binghamton head coach Mark Macon watches in the NCAA Division I men's basketball game. (Feb. 1, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Beating Vermont to capture the America East Tournament title and an automatic NCAA bid will be no easy task, but you can believe Stony Brook's Seawolves are counting their lucky stars the game won't be played in Burlington. That's where they suffered their last loss by a whopping 68-49 on Feb. 12.
Miraculously, the Catamounts (22-11) were upset by previously winless Binghamton to finish 13-3 in the conference, a game behind Stony Brook (22-8). That means they come to Stony Brook for Saturday's 11 a.m. final on ESPN2.
"We know we have beaten them before, so that's a benefit," forward Luke Apfeld said after Vermont advanced to the final with a double-overtime victory over Hartford on the Hawks' home floor in Sunday's semifinals. "We know how to do it. We're going to go back to work this week and pull the tools out, and we'll see what happens on Saturday."
The Catamounts were 65-59 losers when they visited Stony Brook on Jan. 2, but that game was played in tiny Pritchard Gym, which seats, 1,630.
The final will be staged at Stony Brook Arena, which holds about 4,400. The Seawolves last played in the larger venue in a win over Maine last season and also played their 2010 NIT game there, losing to Illinois of the Big Ten.
"It could help us a little bit," Vermont coach John Becker said. "They haven't played in that gym much. They'll have the advantage of sleeping in their own beds and their home crowd, though. But Pritchard is a tough gym. It's small, and they're right on top of you."
In the last meeting, freshman guard Four McGlynn poured in 24 points for the Catamounts, who made nine of 19 three-pointers and shot 47.8 percent while holding SBU to 33.3 percent. The Seawolves' Bryan Dougher, who needs two points to become Stony Brook's all-time leading scorer in Division I, was off the mark in Burlington, missing all seven attempts from three-point range, and the bench contributed only six points.
"I think Dallis Joyner is really a big part of their offense," Becker said, referring to Joyner's 13-point game and 5-for-5 shooting. "He's someone we wanted to take out. Dougher, you can't let him get off threes.
"We think we might have a formula. We were successful doing some things, and we'll go back to look at the tape. But I expect nothing to go according to script on Saturday."
