Stony Brook men’s basketball fell just short against Towson, 53-49, on Jan. 18 at TU Arena. The Seawolves led by six at the half and held the Tigers to their second-lowest scoring output of the season, but could not close out the victory in enemy territory.

Stony Brook raced out to an early 8-0 advantage behind a pair of trifectas from Joe Octave and a basket by Andre Snoddy. The Seawolves held Towson without a point for the opening 2:58 of the contest and without a field goal made for more than three minutes to begin play.

Behind Octave’s scoring and a solid defensive effort, Stony Brook led 19-12 with less than five minutes to play in the first stanza. It took Towson until the 8:50 mark of the half to reach double-digit points.

Towson pieced it together offensively down the stretch, using a 7-0 run where it held Stony Brook without a point for more than three minutes to even the contest at 19-19.

Jared Frey and Collin O’Connor connected on shots from beyond the arc to put the Seawolves ahead 26-19 entering the break. The Seawolves took an eight-point lead on two occasions early on in the second half, but could never push the advantage to double figures. 

Towson used another 7-0 run, this time spanning nearly five minutes to trim its deficit to one point, 31-30. The Tigers took their first lead of the afternoon on a Tyler Tejada basket inside with 7:29 to play, never relinquishing the lead from that point on.

A pair of free throws by Frey knotted the contest at 37-37 less than a minute later, but Towson built up a five-point lead that it maintained until the final two minutes of play.

Free throws by Frey and Ben Wight brought the Seawolves within one point with 1:02 remaining, but Towson locked down defensively and iced the game with second-chance opportunities and free throw shooting.

“Tough loss; we played hard and were able to match Towson’s physicality, which is their best quality,” head coach Geno Ford noted. “We gave up three offensive rebounds on the free throw line, which hurt, and we couldn’t score on a couple possessions in a row inside two minutes. Our inexperience showed down the stretch.”

The team returns home to host Campbell on Jan. 23. The Seawolves and Camels tip off at 7 p.m. from Stony Brook Arena, with the contest airing live on SNY and streaming on FloCollege.

Stony Brook men’s basketball dropped a road contest to Delaware, 84-74, on Thursday evening at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware. .Joe Octave and CJ Luster II combined to score 43 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Blue Hens’ offense.

Stony Brook played well early on, jumping out to a lead and holding an advantage in the scoring column over the opening five minutes of action.

After Delaware used back-to-back three-point makes to go ahead, the Seawolves answered with back-to-back triples of their own courtesy of Leon Nahar and Luster. A Nick Woodard basket bookended an 8-0 run by Stony Brook that put the Seawolves ahead, 19-14, at the 11:22 mark.

Stony Brook went nearly three minutes without a basket, allowing the Blue Hens to regain the lead. Jared Frey connected from deep to push the Seawolves back ahead, 22-21.

The contest continued to go back and forth, seeing the lead change hands once more in favor of Delaware. Stony Brook flipped things with a 9-2 run over a two-minute span to turn a two-point deficit into a four-point lead.

The Blue Hens closed out the final four minutes of the first half with a 10-6 scoring run to take a 39-37 lead into the locker room.

Octave opened the second half scoring with a basket inside to even the score before Delaware took control of the contest.

The Blue Hens built a double-digit lead less than nine minutes into the second half, maintaining a comfortable lead for the remainder of regulation.

A six-point spurt brought Stony Brook within seven points of Delaware with nine minutes to play, but it was as close as they would come for the rest of the evening.

Delaware led by as many as 17 at one point; Stony Brook battled back but time ran out on the Seawolves’ late push.

“Offensively, we did some good stuff. Delaware has a nice team and both their high-major transfers played like it. We had zero answer for Lane or Camden,” head coach Geno Ford said. “I am really disappointed in our rebounding, because that’s not a strength of their team and we have been one of the better offensive rebounding teams in our conference so far. Tonight, that didn’t show up. We have no consistency as a group right now.

Stony Brook men’s basketball battled with Northeastern, ultimately falling 70-66, on Jan. 11 at Stony Brook Arena. The Seawolves erased a 14-point, first-half deficit, but faltered down the stretch and allowed the Huskies to escape with the four-point victory.

Northeastern started fast, scoring the first eight points of the evening and building an early 10-3 lead.

CJ Luster II started scorching hot to allow Stony Brook to hang around in the early going, connecting on a pair of threes to get the Seawolves on the board.

The Huskies built their lead back to seven points at the 12:10 mark, but the Seawolves fought back to make it a one-possession game on multiple occasions.

Northeastern used a 16-4 run to construct a 14-point lead, the largest gap between the two teams in the first half. The run spanned more than four minutes. The Huskies carried a 13-point advantage into the intermission.

Stony Brook narrowed the deficit to single digits on a Joe Octave jumper early in the second half, but Northeastern responded with a three on the ensuing possession to push the Seawolves’ deficit back to double figures.

Another Seawolves spurt offensively made it an eight-point game with more than 14 minutes remaining. Nick Woodard buried a triple to bookend a 7-0 Stony Brook run, bringing the Seawolves within five points of the Huskies.

Stony Brook tied the contest at 50 on a Woodard basket inside with 8:07 to play, evening the score for the first time since the opening tip.

The Seawolves grabbed their first lead of the evening, 52-50, on a basket inside by Woodard out of the under-eight timeout.

Stony Brook’s lead grew to five points on a steal-and-score by Collin O’Connor, leading to a Northeastern timeout. Defensively, the Seawolves forced five Huskies’ turnovers and held Northeastern without a point for more than four minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage with 5:31 to play.JB Frankel ended Northeastern’s scoring drought with a trifecta on a second-chance effort, but O’Connor answered on the other end to make it a two-possession contest once more.

Back-to-back Northeastern baskets followed, tying the game at 57-57 and forcing Stony Brook to use its first timeout of the second half. The Huskies regained the lead, 59-57, with two minutes remaining after Masai Troutman was fouled on a three-point attempt and made two of three.

Northeastern scored 11 straight points, holding Stony Brook scoreless for more than four minutes to erase the deficit and take a 64-57 lead with less than a minute to play.

Leon Nahar and Woodard connected on three-pointers, with Woodard’s pulling the Seawolves within three points of Northeastern with 16 seconds left. 

Andre Snoddy buried a triple after a pair of Huskies’ free throws, making it a one-possession game again, but Troutman made his 13th and 14th free throws of the contest to make it a four-point game with 2.6 seconds left.

Northeastern ultimately erased the late deficit and completed the comeback, taking down Stony Brook 70-66.

“We really competed hard tonight. The crowd was awesome. We were up five points with five minutes to go and just couldn’t make a big play down the stretch,” said head coach Geno Ford. “We took some steps forward in some areas and just have to keep working at it.”

Up next, the team hits the road to face Delaware on Thursday, Jan. 16. The Seawolves and Blue Hens tip-off at 6:30 p.m. from the Bob Carpenter Center, with the contest streaming on FloCollege.