Stony Brook can't overcome sloppy play, bad three-point shooting in loss to Hartford
Stony Brook Seawolves forward Jaden Sayles is unable to sink his free throw with two seconds left against the Hartford Hawks in an NCAA America East men's basketball game at Federal Credit Arena on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Turnovers and missed three-pointers have plagued the Stony Brook men’s basketball team of late, and it was no different Saturday afternoon at Island Federal Arena.
"We have a lot of issues with being sloppy with the ball," Stony Brook head coach Geno Ford said. "Unfortunately, when it comes to shooting threes, we seem to be off almost daily. We have to get that solved. You can’t just never make a shot and expect to win."
Hartford’s Austin Williams made the Seawolves pay for their untidy play, forcing a steal with 27 seconds left, grabbing an offensive rebound off a missed three by D.J. Mitchell and converting the winning layup with 15 seconds remaining in a 59-57 victory over host Stony Brook in an America East matchup.
The Seawolves had a chance to tie the game when Jaden Sayles was fouled on a jumper with two seconds to go. He missed the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but Williams was there to grab the rebound. Williams finished with 15 points and six rebounds.
The Seawolves had 17 turnovers and went 8-for-31 (25.8%) from three-point range, including just 3-for-16 from beyond the arc in the second half.
"They weren’t even guarding us. They stood in the lane and dared us to shoot," Ford said. "We’re 10th in the league [29.5%] in three-point shooting. The last time I checked there’s only 10 teams, so that’s not a good stat to have."
Stony Brook (7-8, 5-4) has lost four out of five and will host Hartford (10-6, 7-4) again on Sunday at 2 p.m.
"There are a couple of things we can try and do for [Sunday], but the biggest thing that can help us is making more shots," Ford said.
Hunter Marks had 13 points and drained a three-pointer with 1:31 left to tie the score at 55 for the Hawks. He added 10 rebounds and made two free throws to tie the game at 57 with 48 seconds remaining, following a Juan Felix Rodriguez jumper that put Stony Brook up by two.
Tykei Greene led the Seawolves with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Mouhamadou Gueye added eight points, 14 rebounds, five assists and five blocks, and Sayles scored 10 points.
SBU held the Hawks to 1-for-17 from deep in the first half and 3-for-26 (11.5%) for the game. Hartford entered the contest as the best three-point shooting offense in the conference, making 36.5% of its shots. (The Hawks' bad shooting day dropped them to sixth at 32.8%.)
"I thought the effort was there on defense," Ford said. "That said, they still got some good looks. Usually when you play against a great shooting team and they don’t shoot it well, it can be some you, but it’s typically a little bit of them having an off day."
Something the Seawolves know about all too well lately.
Stony Brook women win fourth straight
India Pagan scored 18 points to lead the Stony Brook women to a 67-47 win over host Hartford. It was the fourth straight win for the Seawolves (9-4, 7-2 America East).
