Stony Brook falls to New Hampshire on buzzer-beating layup
Tykei Greene #4 and Frankie Policelli #2 of Stony Brook react after losing at the buzzer against New Hampshire at Island Federal Arena on Monday, Feb. 7, 2022 in Stony Brook. Credit: Jim McIsaac
It’s been a crushing week on and off the court for the Stony Brook men’s basketball team.
Just a week ago, the Seawolves had won five of seven conference games and sat in second place in the America East.
Then Stony Brook was hit with devastating news.
On Wednesday, the conference deemed Stony Brook athletic teams ineligible for America East tournaments because of the university’s impending move to the Colonial Athletic Association starting next season. This basically eliminated Stony Brook from NCAA Tournament contention.
Nothing has been the same for the Seawolves since.
Stony Brook dropped its third straight game on Monday night, losing to New Hampshire, 67-65, in an America East contest at Island Federal Credit Union Arena.
New Hampshire’s Jayden Martinez grabbed an air ball by teammate Qon Murphy and hit a layup as time expired to win it. Only 13 seconds before that, Stony Brook’s Juan Felix Rodriguez made a tough driving layup to tie the score at 65.
"We’ve just got to dig in and be a little bit tougher," coach Geno Ford said after Stony Brook fell to 13-10 overall and 5-5 in the conference. "It’s not like we are way off, but we’ve got to be a little bit tougher to get over the hump."
It was Stony Brook’s second straight loss in the closing seconds. Two days earlier, the Seawolves lost to NJIT, 65-62, on a three-pointer with two seconds left.
"Tough week for us," Ford said. "Two buzzer-beaters in a row. We just got to rally and I don’t know at what point we will have had enough and we’ll play with enough pizzazz to get over the hump."
New Hampshire (10-9, 5-5) went on a 19-2 run spanning 6:43 to take a 27-18 lead with 4:17 remaining in the first half. Stony Brook, which trailed 34-29 at halftime, shot 16% from three-point range overall. "We’re a perimeter team," Ford said. "And 4-for-25 isn’t going to beat anybody."
Murphy had 26 points for New Hampshire. Tykei Greene led Stony Brook with 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Stony Brook has fallen from second in the conference to tied for fifth since the announcement by the America East. All three losses came against teams that entered the game with a worse conference record than the Seawolves had.
"From my spot, we have to get ready to play every game and we’ve got to be better," Ford said. "And whatever we’re trying has been enough to get us close, but you know, they don’t hand out close-to-winning awards. It’s winning and losing."
