Stony Brook men hold off Maine, 58-52
Stony Brook guard Bryan Dougher controls the ball ahead of New Hampshire guard Jordon Bronner in the NCAA Division I men's basketball game. (Jan. 16, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The temperature in Orono, Maine, barely reached double-digits Saturday, but Maine's Black Bears made Stony Brook sweat.
When Bryan Dougher sank a three-pointer with 6:43 remaining, Stony Brook's lead grew to 13 points, and some might have thought the Seawolves had their eighth victory in the last nine games locked up.
But after allowing only 35 points in the first 351/2 minutes, Stony Brook gave up 17 in a span of 4:18. Maine drew within four points three times before the Seawolves held on for a 58-52 America East Conference win.
Tommy Brenton had nine points, a season-high 15 rebounds, four assists and four steals for Stony Brook, which lifted its record to 11-7, 6-1 -- its best seven-game start in 11 seasons of America East play.
Dallis Joyner scored 10 points and Dougher and Dave Coley added nine each for the Seawolves. Dougher scored all nine of his points in the second half, shooting 3-for-4 from three-point range after halftime.
Justin Edwards and Xavier Pollard had 14 points each and Raheem Singleton added 13 for Maine (8-10, 2-5), which entered the game averaging 73.4 points per game but committed a season-high 22 turnovers and shot 36 percent from the field.
Coley scored six points as part of an 11-2 run to open the second half that gave the Seawolves a 31-24 lead. Maine responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Singleton to move within one, but a 17-5 run produced a 48-35 Stony Brook lead.
Maine closed to within 48-44 and 50-46, but Dougher's three-pointer gave Stony Brook a seven-point lead. Anthony Jackson's two free throws with 15 seconds left made it 56-49, and after Singleton hit a three with nine seconds to play, Marcus Rouse's fast-break layup with three seconds left clinched the game.
