SBU Sports: Policelli leads charge in comeback victory against Army
Graduate forward Frankie Policelli had a career day for the Stony Brook men’s basketball team, helping the Seawolves come-from-behind to defeat the Army Black Knights, 66-59, on Dec. 18 at Island Federal Arena.
With just under seven minutes remaining in the game, Policelli began to heat up. First, the New Hartford, New York native drove down the lane and made a layup to bring the Seawolves within two points of Army.
After getting a stop defensively, the Seawolves came back down the floor on their next possession. Stony Brook went right back to Policelli in the post and he drained a hookshot from inside the paint to tie the game at 50-50.
Army failed to score on its next two possessions and once again Policelli got the ball on the offensive end and swished a turnaround jumper to give Stony Brook its first lead of the game, at 52-50, with 4:59 remaining.
Policelli then drained two free-throws on the next offensive possession, after another defensive stop. He scored eight-straight points and extended the Seawolves’ lead to 54-50 with 4:24 remaining. Policelli finished the game with 22 points, which tied his career-high, and he hauled in a career-high 19 rebounds. It was his second-straight game with a double-double and his third in the past four contests. It marked his fifth double-double of the season. He shot 8-of-12 from the floor, 2-of-4 from three-point range, and 4-of-7 from the free-throw line.
The Seawolves’ defense helped the squad come-from-behind and hold on to win. Army went on several scoring droughts of at least two minutes in the second half, which opened the door up for Stony Brook.
Senior guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore was also a huge factor in closing out the game with a win. He extended the team’s run to 11-0 with two free-throws with 3:50 to go. Stephenson-Moore went on to score eight-straight points for Stony Brook.
The Seawolves finished the game with five-straight made shots from the floor and behind crucial free-throw shooting and stifling defense down the stretch, they were able to pull out the win and improve to 4-8 on the season and 4-1 at home.
Next up, the team will travel to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers on Dec. 22. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
