Down 18 in the 2nd half, Stony Brook charges back to beat Maine
Stony Brook forward Elijah Olaniyi shoots a free throw against Binghamton at Island Federal Arena on Jan. 9. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
BANGOR, Maine — Elijah Olaniyi scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half to help Stony Brook rally from an 18-point deficit and beat Maine, 64-61, on Saturday.
Akwasi Yeboah added 12 points — all in the second half — to help the Seawolves (16-3, 4-0) win their sixth straight game and remain unbeaten in America East Conference play. Jeff Otchere pitched in with 11 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots,Miles Latimer scored 10 and Jaron Cornish had 10 assists and eight rebounds.
Stony Brook trailed 33-17 at halftime and 38-20 after Sergio El Darwich buried a three-pointer for the Black Bears (3-17, 1-4) with 18:47 remaining in the game. The Seawolves chipped away at the lead and pulled even at 47 on three-pointers by Andrew Garcia (with 10:15 to go) and Olaniyi with 8:38 left.
Garcia hit 1 of 2 free throws with 7:45 remaining to give Stony Brook its first lead since 6-3. Yeboah hit a jumper and Otchere had back-to-back dunks to put the Seawolves up 54-47 with 4:21 left and they held on from there.
The Seawolves scored 47 points in the second half.
"We just wanted to improve our effort in the second half," SBU coach Jeff Boals said. "Maine was dictating play on both ends and we were able to come back. Give our guys a lot of credit. We picked up our ball pressure in the second half and I think that was the difference. To start the game, we shot a lot of threes. In the second half, we did a much better job of moving without the basketball and getting to the middle of their zone."
This was the third time SBU has rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit this season.
Terion Moss topped Maine with 23 points, shooting 6-for-12 from three-point range. El Darwich added 16 points and seven rebounds.
