SBU Sports: Men’s basketball wins on senior night to close regular season

Stony Brook men’s basketball closed out the regular season with a victory on senior night, March 1, defeating Elon, 71-66, on national television. Andre Snoddy eclipsed 1,000 career points in the win, which was sealed by Collin O’Connor’s block in the final seconds.

Stony Brook started the contest with five straight points, building a six-point lead early on after back-to-back Nick Woodard baskets. The Seawolves extended their first-half lead to double-digits, 24-14, on a CJ Luster II jumper at the 9:43 mark. Stony Brook’s lead grew to 11 points, the largest of the first half, on a Snoddy basket with 6:21 to play in the first half. Earlier in the half, Snoddy drove to the hoop and finished, eclipsing 1,000 career collegiate points.

The Seawolves took a 38-29 into the half and built onto it, pushing the advantage to 15 points less than three minutes into the second half. Stony Brook led by as many as 18 points, but Elon began slowly chipping away and clawing back into the contest.

The Phoenix rose late, turning a 14-point deficit into a one-possession game in the final minute of play after a 14-2 run that spanned more than five minutes. Elon had one final chance at a game-tying shot, but O’Connor came up clutch defensively, blocking Simpkins’ three-point attempt in the final seconds and hitting two free throws on the other end to ice the game.

“It was great to go out and earn a win on senior night in front of a great crowd. I thought Dre was awesome and I’m happy he got his 1,000th point with his family there watching,” head coach Geno Ford said postgame. “Ben had a great night too and it’s unfortunate that our other seniors couldn’t suit up, but I’m happy we were able to get the win for that group.”

Up next, the team enters the CAA Championship as the No. 13 seed and will face No. 12 Delaware on March 7 at 2 p.m. from CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., with the contest streaming live on FloCollege.