Elijah Olaniyi, Makale Foreman spark Stony Brook in second half

The Stony Brook players were literally giving kids the shirts off their backs.

They wore home white jerseys with someone else’s name in red lettering on the back Saturday night against UMBC at Island Federal Arena. The names belonged to hospital inpatients at Stony Brook Children’s.

The children were on the floor with the players for the national anthem and introductions, and then the players presented the jerseys to them in the locker room after the game. This second annual event was meant to provide them with an experience to remember.

Those kids also experienced a Seawolves victory. Elijah Olaniyi contributed 19 of his 21 points in the second half and Makale Foreman scored 18 to help power Stony Brook past UMBC, 74-63.

“I think it’s just an opportunity to understand that there are families and young people who are battling and having legitimate adversity,” coach Geno Ford said. “You’ve got smiles on their faces, which is great.”

The Seawolves are 15-8 overall, and they can smile about their place in the standings at the midpoint of their America East regular-season run.

They will begin the second half of the conference schedule in a traffic jam near the top.

Defending champ Vermont resides in the penthouse at 7-1, having won seven straight since losing at home to Stony Brook. The Seawolves are tied for second with Hartford, a game behind at 6-2. Albany is a game behind in fourth at 5-3.

Stony Brook’s second-half lead over UMBC (9-14, 2-6) stood at just 37-35.

Then Olaniyi, who came in second in the conference at 19 points per game, scored from in close and made two free throws. Foreman, who came in ninth in the nation in three-pointers made, followed by burying one of his trio of threes. The lead was up to 44-35.

The Retrievers, who were led by Dimitrije Spasojevic’s 17 points, chipped it down to five. But Olaniyi made a steal and converted it into a layup, triggering a 10-1 run. It was 57-43 with 9:18 left. The margin eventually reached 16.

“I don’t think we played flawlessly,” Ford said. “But for us to only have nine turnovers is a great number.”

So what’s the state of their union at this point?

“I feel pretty good about where we’re at,” Ford said. “We’ve shown that our best is good enough to beat one of the best teams in the league on their court. Our worst is low enough to get knocked off at home … I think the Vermont win gives us an internal belief that we can win a championship. We’ve got ourselves right in the thick of it.”