SBU Sports: Men’s basketball outlasts Army in overtime 78-74
The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team topped Army, 78-74, in overtime on Dec. 17 at Christl Arena at West Point. Aaron Clarke returned to the lineup, pacing a group of four double-digit scorers with 21 points to lead the Seawolves past the Black Knights.
The Seawolves started fast on both ends of the floor, racing out to a 12-1 lead. Army was held without a field goal for nearly eight minutes to open the contest and managed just two points on a pair of trips to the charity stripe before Josh Scovens’ basket at the 12:09 mark of the first half.
Stony Brook extended its lead to 14 points, 23-9, more than halfway through the first half of action, but the Black Knights offense came to life in the final nine minutes of the half. Army ripped off 17 unanswered points in less than five minutes to turn a 14-point deficit into a three-point lead. When the dust settled after the first half, the contest was tied at 36-36 heading into the intermission. The Black Knights ultimately ended the half on a 27-13 run, shooting 10-of-14 from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range over the final nine-plus minutes of the opening stanza.
In a back-and-forth second half, Stony Brook led by seven points with 3:29 to play before another surge from Army’s offense that saw the Seawolves squander another lead. The Black Knights used a 9-0 run to grab a 61-59 lead with less than a minute to play, but a pair of late free throws from Clarke and a defensive stand sent the contest into overtime, despite Stony Brook being held without a field goal for the final seven-plus minutes of regulation.
Tyler Stephenson-Moore did not register a field goal made in regulation, notching his only three points at the charity stripe over a 10-second span in the final four minutes of the second half. He made the most of the extra period however, connecting on a pair of trifectas on the opening two possessions and added another basket on Stony Brook’s fourth possession of overtime, putting his squad on top, 69-66. The Seawolves never trailed in overtime, converting on 7-of-8 from the free throw line to earn its first road victory of the season.
“Great win against an Army team that played at a really high level,” head coach Geno Ford noted. “We really appreciated the huge amount of Stony Brook fans that made the drive over for the game today. We’ve put a nice win streak together with some confidence heading into Michigan State.”
The team wraps up road, non-conference action at Michigan State on Dec. 21. Tip-off between the Seawolves and Spartans is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at Breslin Arena with the contest streaming live on BTN+. It will be the second-ever meeting between Stony Brook and Michigan State.
