Stony Brook coming up big, but is gym too small?

Stony Brook's rise to the top of the America East men's basketball standings met an enthusiastic response from students and members of the community who packed 1,500-seat Pritchard Gymnasium last week for wins over Maine and Binghamton.

But if the Seawolves ultimately qualify to host the conference tournament final, which will be held at the home of the highest remaining seed, there's no guarantee they will get to exercise their rights. According to America East bylaws, the title game must be held in an arena with a minimum capacity of 3,000 seats, 600 of which are guaranteed to the visiting team, and the host team must guarantee the conference $75,000 in revenue.

With four conference games remaining for the Seawolves, Stony Brook (10-2) holds a narrow lead over Vermont (10-3) for the top seed. Even if the Seawolves don't win the regular-season title, they could reach the final as the highest seed depending on the outcome of the first three rounds of the conference tournament March 5-7 at the University of Hartford. The final will be played at noon March 13 and will be televised on ESPN2.

"We have a long ways to go, and we have to win games,'' Stony Brook athletic director Jim Fiore said yesterday. "But we have a strong commitment to men's basketball, and we have a strong commitment to having this game on our campus if we were fortunate enough to be the highest seed.''

America East associate commissioner Matt Bourque said Monday that the conference is waiting for Fiore to present several options as part of a contingency plan, and he confirmed that the possibility of playing the game at a neutral site has been discussed. "This certainly wasn't targeted at Pritchard,'' Bourque said of the bylaw, which went into effect two years ago.

The Seawolves previously played in 4,500-seat Stony Brook Arena, which was scheduled to undergo a $20-million renovation. The school was about three months from breaking ground when the financial world collapsed and Gov. David Paterson put a hold on capital spending.

Stony Brook Arena has been dormant for two years and lacks electrical wiring, but the school is investigating the cost of flooring, scoreboards and lighting to meet championship game standards for one game.

Even if Stony Brook doesn't reach the championship game, if it wins the regular-season title, it will get an NIT bid and potentially could host an early-round game.

The most likely scenario is to petition the conference for two waivers - of the 3,000-seat requirement and the guarantee of 600 tickets for a visiting team - to hold the title game at Pritchard. "We're evaluating maximum capacity for that venue,'' said Fiore, who also is investigating other sites within a 30-mile radius of campus.

If Stony Brook's waiver request is denied, a source said, the championship game could be played at Hartford, site of the first three rounds of the conference tournament. But Stony Brook would control the tickets and bus students to the game.

"If we were fortunate to host it,'' Fiore said, "we don't anticipate not having this at Stony Brook.''