Stony Brook again loses to New Hampshire for second league loss
Stony Brook guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore and guard Tykei Greene scramble for possession against New Hampshire guard Marque Maultsby during an NCAA America East men's basketball game at Island Federal Arena on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team was looking for a second chance against New Hampshire on Sunday after taking its first America East loss of the season less than 24 hours earlier.
But it was second-chance opportunities — namely offensive rebounds — that proved costly for Stony Brook in a 67-64 loss at Island Federal Credit Union Arena.
UNH outrebounded Stony Brook 17-7 on the offensive glass and 42-29 overall. The Seawolves also struggled from the free-throw line, making only three of their final nine attempts.
That added up to a second straight loss for Stony Brook, which had won its first four conference games and had been on a five-game winning streak.
"Frustrating loss," Seawolves coach Geno Ford said. "I thought the guys really battled. I thought we physically tried hard."
Tykei Greene led Stony Brook (6-6, 4-2) with 14 points in 35 minutes. Frankie Policelli added 13 and Jaden Sayles scored 10 in only 12 minutes after missing Saturday’s 81-64 loss to New Hampshire.
Mouhamadou Gueye had 10 points, six rebounds, five blocks and four assists. He has 101 blocks in 45 career games for the Seawolves (only Jeff Otchere — in 44 games — was faster to 100).
"It’s a great accomplishment," the 6-9 Gueye said. "I don’t personally set out to get those accolades; it just kind of happens."
Neither team led by more than four points the entire second half, which began with the score tied at 31. Policelli’s layup gave Stony Brook a 61-59 lead with 3:18 remaining.
Qon Murphy’s three-pointer with 2:49 left gave UNH (5-5, 4-3) a 62-61 lead. Greene made one of two free throws to tie the score at 62, but a layup by Nick Johnson at 1:33 gave UNH the lead for good at 64-62.
Stony Brook was called for two offensive fouls on consecutive possessions and Juan Felix Rodriguez missed two free throws with 14.2 seconds left. The Wildcats’ Nick Guadarrama, who had 14 points, made two free throws to put UNH ahead 66-62 with 13 seconds to go.
Rodriguez went coast-to-coast to bring Stony Brook within 66-64 with 7.4 seconds left. Guadarrama sank one of two free throws to leave the door open for the Seawolves, but Rodriguez missed a long three-pointer.
Stony Brook played for the second time in two days after a pause of more than two weeks after a member of the program tested positive for COVID-19.
"When you’re off for two weeks [for COVID-19 protocols] it’s hard to get back to that [physicality of the game] really quick, especially when you have only four days of practice coming into the game," Gueye said. "Today, definitely, was better."
But not quite good enough.
Stony Brook women win. India Pagan (nine points) scored the 1,000th point of her career as the Stony Brook women (6-4, 4-2 America East) defeated host New Hampshire 64-41. UNH is 4-9, 4-6.
