SBU Sports: Men’s basketball falters in home loss to Monmouth 79-69
Stony Brook men’s basketball battled in a 79-69 loss to Monmouth on Thursday evening at Stony Brook Arena. CJ Luster II scored 28 points, connecting on seven trifectas, but the Seawolves’ late comeback attempt fell just short.
Monmouth jumped out to an early 22-13 point lead, extending its advantage to 13 points after a 7-0 run capped by a Jaret Valencia alley-oop.
Stony Brook trailed by double-figures for much of the latter portion of the first half before an 8-0 run that spanned 1:20 and trimmed Monmouth’s lead to 35-29 with just over four minutes remaining.
Late baskets by Jack Collins pushed the Hawks’ advantage back to 11 points heading into the intermission.
Luster caught fire to begin the second half, scoring 12 of Stony Brook’s first 16 points in the second stanza to make it a one-point game, 48-47, in favor of Monmouth.
An 11-3 run by Monmouth pushed Stony Brook’s deficit back to nine points with 10 minutes to play.
The Hawks maintained the nine-point advantage before Stony Brook’s late push in the final five minutes of play.
Baskets from Andre Snoddy and Collin O’Connor made it a one-possession game, 68-65, with 3:12 to play.
A pair of Madison Durr free throws were offset by a Snoddy basket on the other end, keeping it a three-point game with less than two minutes on the clock.
Durr took control of the contest with back-to-back and-ones to extend the Hawks’ lead to nine points again, closing things out on Thursday on Long Island.
“We had the game to one possession and we couldn’t get a stop. They drove us, and it wasn’t Bashir; we did a really good job on Bashir for the game, but when it’s 70-67, we don’t get a stop and they get the and-one. We go down, don’t score, and come back down and allow a transition basket and it’s ballgame in that sequence,” head coach Geno Ford said postgame. “When we’re inside two minutes and it’s a one-possession game, we gave ourselves a heck of a chance to win and just didn’t make enough plays over the last 90 seconds.”
The team heads to New England to face off with Northeastern on February 15 in another nationally televised game. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 pm in Boston and will air nationally on the CBS Sports Network.
