Late rally lifts Stony Brook men over UMass Lowell

Stony Brook guard Akwasi Yeboah drives to the paint against LIU Brooklyn forward Julius van Sauers during the second half an NCAA Division I men's basketball game at IFCU Arena on Wednesday, Dec. 12, 2018. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
It wasn’t the start, it was the finish that mattered for the Stony Brook men’s basketball team on Saturday afternoon.
Fresh off their most successful non-conference start at the Division I level, the Seawolves rallied late, scoring the final eight points of the game, to top UMass Lowell, 75-63, in their America East opener at the Costello Athletic Center. It was Stony Brook’s eighth non-neutral road win of the season.
“We were down two at halftime and I told them that we weren’t doing the same things we’d done [in non-conference],” Stony Brook coach Jeff Boals said. “We didn’t share the ball, defensively we weren’t communicating, but I thought we had great energy in the second half and came out to play.”
Despite Boals’ speech, Stony Brook (13-3, 1-0) struggled to hit its stride early in the second half as UMass Lowell answered every basket with one of its own.
That changed when Miles Latimer found Akwasi Yeboah for back-to-back three-pointers with 8:17 left, capping off an 8-0 Stony Brook run to give the Seawolves a 10-point lead.
“[The first three] was a play we wanted to run and the second happened because I knew [Yeboah] was a reliable shooter,” said Latimer, who finished with 16 points. “It was momentum. To get those couple of buckets was key.”
Yeboah finished with a game-high 19 points, but UMass Lowell (8-8, 0-1) refused to go down without a fight, clawing back to make it a 64-61 game on Obadiah Noel’s layup with 4:04 to play.
Andrew Garcia scored on Stony Brook’s next possession, draining a three-pointer and giving the Seawolves the cushion they needed to lock in on defense, dropping back into a zone that kept UMass Lowell from rallying again.
The River Hawks were 19-for-55 from the floor and were held scoreless in the final three minutes.
Stony Brook’s presence on the boards also proved a difference-maker. The Seawolves outrebounded UMass Lowell 43-33, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass.
“One thing we can use to our advantage is our size and our athleticism,” Latimer said. “The best way to do that is rebounding.”
It wasn’t a perfect win, but for a Stony Brook team determined to get back to the top of the America East by season's end, it was a win they needed. Now the Seawolves hopes to keep the momentum going at home against Binghamton Wednesday.
“Our goal is to win the moment,” Boals said. “We’re battle tested. They know what they have to do to win.”