SBU Sports: Men’s basketball falls to William & Mary in CAA home opener
Stony Brook men’s basketball fell in its CAA home opener to William & Mary, 83-76, on Jan. 4 at Stony Brook Arena. CJ Luster II scored a game-high 22 points to lead a trio of double-digit scorers for the Seawolves in the loss.
Stony Brook and William & Mary traded blows early, with each side holding a lead during the opening three minutes of action. The Seawolves used an early 9-0 run to take a 19-11 lead, the largest gap between the two teams in the first half. The Tribe responded with an 11-2 run of their own, whittling the deficit to one point.
William & Mary battled back to tie the game on two occasions, before regaining the lead on an Isaiah Mbeng triple with 5:30 to play in the first stanza. A Nick Woodard steal and score in transition put the Seawolves ahead again, 33-32, but the Tribe closed the half on a 10-4 run to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room.
Andre Snoddy and Jared Frey opened the second-half scoring with back-to-back baskets, giving the Seawolves an advantage in the scoring column again. The Seawolves maintained a lead until the 12-minute mark when the Tribe used a 7-2 run to even the score at 58 apiece.
William & Mary fell behind again, but took control of the lead with 9:23 to play and never trailed from that point on. Stony Brook leveled the contest once more, but could not overcome the deficit. The Tribe’s Isaiah Mbeng buried an end-of-shot-clock three-pointer with 67 seconds remaining in the contest to ice the game.
“Give William & Mary credit, they were able to score in crunch time with some big shots. We had the ball four straight times in the last three minutes and had plenty of chances to take the lead and weren’t able to score,” head coach Geno Ford said. “We are getting better, which is encouraging, but we haven’t found anyone who can deliver big baskets for us in crunch time. Once we can get that, we will start to win these types of games.”
Up next, the team continues its three-game homestand, hosting Drexel on Jan. 9. The Seawolves and Dragons tip-off at 7 p.m. from Stony Brook Arena, with the contest airing live on SNY and streaming on FloCollege.
