Traveling with the Stony Brook Seawolves
In an effort to raise Stony Brook’s basketball profile, second-year coach Jeff Boals put together one of the toughest early season schedules in team history. The first two games were hard-fought losses to Maryland and Connecticut, both former national champions. Stony Brook agreed to let a Newsday reporter and photographer tag along as the Seawolves traveled from their third game, at Ball State, to play Michigan State, then ranked second in the nation. Here’s a look behind the scenes:
FRIDAY, NOV. 17
Muncie, Indiana — 9:17 p.m.
The echo of the final buzzer reverberated loudly through the cavernous gymnasium on the campus of Ball State University, signalling the end to a disappointing road loss for the Stony Brook basketball team.
The Seawolves were clearly the better team for the first half, but their shots stopped falling in the second half and they couldn’t recapture their offensive flow. The result was an 87-76 loss, dropping them to 0-3 on the season.
As the Stony Brook players one-by-one quietly entered the visiting team’s locker room, Boals, stood outside the door and spoke in plain terms about what had gone wrong on the court.
“We talked about how the team that had the most intensity, energy and the most heart was going to win,” he says. And clearly on this night that wasn’t the players from Stony Brook. Added Boals, “no one stepped up.”
On the short bus ride back to the hotel, not one audible word could be heard.
SATURDAY, NOV. 18
Muncie, Indiana — 8:48 a.m.
The team reconvenes in a first-floor hotel conference room for breakfast (scrambled eggs, french toast and hash browns) and a tape session.
Assistant coach Geno Ford reviews the previous night’s game, showing video of a handful of broken-down plays on a projector screen. Then Boals says it’s time to move on to Michigan State — one of the biggest games of these players’ lives.
“Unbelievable opportunity,” he says. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere, great environment. I want you to go up there and embrace the environment, embrace the physicality, and more importantly, embrace the opportunity.
“Not too many times you get a chance to go into a top-five team’s place.”
Members of the Stony Brook men's basketball team ride the bus from Muncie, Indiana, to East Lansing, Michigan, on Nov. 18, 2017, to prep for the next day's game against No. 2-ranked Michigan State. Credit: Newsday / J. Conrad Williams Jr.
EPILOGUE
Stony Brook won its home opener against Brown, 77-64, and moved to 5-8 Friday night with an upset victory over Rutgers, coached by Boals’ predecessor, Steve Pikiell. Boals says he’s not worried about SBU’s record. He has his eyes set on March 10, which is the America East title game. The only way to make it into the NCAA Tournament is to win the game — and the record carries zero weight.
Jim Baumbach is an award-winning investigative reporter at Newsday, where he has worked since 1998. He spent two decades in the sports department, where he covered every professional team and league, including events such as the Super Bowl and World Series.
