Stony Brook can't keep up with Saint Peter's in second half
Stony Brook head coach Geno Ford looks on during the second half of an America East men's basketball game against Vermont at Island Federal Arena on Feb. 20. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
After having the first two games on its schedule canceled because of COVID-19 concerns, Stony Brook finally got to cut the ribbon on the new basketball season Tuesday night. There were no keepsakes.
The Seawolves dug themselves a huge hole with miscues and turnovers and Saint Peter’s buried them in a hail of three-pointers as it rolled to an 82-68 non-conference win at Moore Athletic Center in Jersey City.
Stony Brook committed 22 turnovers and missed 13 of 25 free throws. Saint Peter’s was 12-for-22 shooting threes.
"You’re not going to win any games with 22 turnovers . . . You’re not going to win any games with 13-for-25 on free throws," Seawolves coach Geno Ford said.
The Seawolves trailed by five at the half and snatched a quick lead at 41-40 when Frankie Policelli made three-pointers on the first two possessions after the break. Then SBU committed seven turnovers to fuel the speedy Peacocks on a 17-0 run to break the game open. KC Ndefo had seven points and Dallas Watson had four points and two assists in the run.
Daryl Banks III made a three-pointer with 14:27 to play to make it 57-41. Saint Peter’s (2-1) got its lead as high as 23 points and then it mostly coasted from there.
Stony Brook assembled a 14-2 charge behind six points from Jaden Sayles and five from Juan Felix Rodriguez to cut it to 72-61 with 5:16 left. The Seawolves could have extended the run, getting four free throws but missed them all.
SBU has eight new players and integrating them with the constraints of a preseason in a pandemic almost assured early growing pains.
"We didn’t play well, but I did see a lot of good things, too, that we can look forward to," Ford said.
Policelli showed that he could be a go-to scorer with a team high 16 points. Sayles looked versatile as he had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists and gritty Mohamed Diallo added 13 points and seven rebounds. All three were playing in their first game for the Seawolves.
Dallas Watson led the Peacocks with 18 points.
Ford has said that three-point shooting and rebounding would be the keys once the Seawolves get into America East Conference play and they did well in both, making 38% outside the arc and grabbing 13 offensive rebounds. The weaknesses, however, were overwhelming on this night.
"Sales was good. Frankie was good," Ford said. "We won’t overreact to one game. This was not progress but it will come."
SBU, St. John's filling schedules. Stony Brook will play Sunday at St. John’s as both programs attempt to fill in for games canceled or postponed. The game will be at Carnesecca Arena at 2:30 p.m. and air on FS1. St. John’s has won all eight previous meetings, though the teams have not played since 2009.
Both schools have lost a game against Sacred Heart, and St. John’s also lost one to Fordham while those opponents are on pause because of positive COVID-19 tests.
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
