Stony Brook men’s basketball earned its first league victory with an 89-74 triumph over North Carolina A&T on Jan. 26 on Long Island. CJ Luster II (31) and Andre Snoddy (22) tallied career-high marks in points to cap off the seventh annual Children’s Hospital Game with a win.

The opening 15 minutes of action were a back-and-forth affair, with the lead trading hands five times. Neither team led by more than four points during that span.

Stony Brook used a 9-2 run that featured baskets from Collin O’Connor, Luster and Ben Wight to build a 37-29 advantage with three minutes remaining in the half.

The Seawolves constructed an 11-point lead, the largest of the afternoon. Stony Brook a 46-35 advantage into the intermission.

After a Snoddy basket to open the half made it a 13-point game, N.C. A&T fought back to whittle its deficit to four points, 55-51, with 13 minutes to play in regulation.

Luster ripped off six straight points to push the advantage back to double figures before the Aggies again trimmed their deficit to five points with 8:28 to play.

Stony Brook answered with eight straight points, holding N.C. A&T without a made field goal for more than four minutes to take complete control of the contest.

The Seawolves stretched their lead to 15 points, maintaining a double-digit cushion in the scoring column and capping off an emotional day with their first CAA victory of the season.

“First and foremost I want to thank the [Stony Brook] Children’s Hospital for organizing another great event. To be able to meet families who are going through a real courageous battle with their children keeps things in perspective. I know the players and our coaching staff wanted more than anything to try to provide a few hours of quality entertainment. We continue to pray for all the families,” head coach Geno Ford said postgame. 

“I’m happy for the players; we needed to win, and to be able to do it as shorthanded as we were, makes it even better,” he added.

Up next, the team heads south to face Charleston in a rematch of the 2024 CAA Championship on Jan. 30. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. from TD Arena, with the contest streaming on FloCollege.

Stony Brook men’s basketball fell, 79-54, to Campbell on Jan. 23 at Stony Brook Arena. Ben Wight eclipsed 1,000 career points in the setback, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Stony Brook and Campbell traded baskets over the opening eight minutes of action before the Camels took full control of the contest.

The Seawolves trailed 13-11 before allowing 11 straight points and falling behind, 24-13 at the 8:59 mark of the first half.

Stony Brook trimmed the deficit to nine points, but were outscored 17-4 over the final seven-plus minutes of the half and trailed 41-19 heading into the locker room.

The Camels maintained a sizable advantage for the entirety of the second half, shooting 64 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes of action.

Campbell led by as many as 27 points during the second half and the smallest margin between the two sides during the second stanza was 17 points.

“Give Campbell credit, they were good early. We have had a hard time versus pressure all year and Collin picked up two quick fouls. We had 10 turnovers in our first 26 possessions; we cannot overcome those numbers,” head coach Geno Ford said. “We have a big Children’s Hospital game Saturday and we desperately need to play better.”

The team stays on the Island, hosting North Carolina A&T for the seventh annual Stony Brook Children’s Hospital Game on Jan. 25. Tip-off is scheduled for noon from Stony Brook Arena, with the contest airing live on SNY and streaming on FloCollege.

Stony Brook men’s basketball fell just short against Towson, 53-49, on Jan. 18 at TU Arena. The Seawolves led by six at the half and held the Tigers to their second-lowest scoring output of the season, but could not close out the victory in enemy territory.

Stony Brook raced out to an early 8-0 advantage behind a pair of trifectas from Joe Octave and a basket by Andre Snoddy. The Seawolves held Towson without a point for the opening 2:58 of the contest and without a field goal made for more than three minutes to begin play.

Behind Octave’s scoring and a solid defensive effort, Stony Brook led 19-12 with less than five minutes to play in the first stanza. It took Towson until the 8:50 mark of the half to reach double-digit points.

Towson pieced it together offensively down the stretch, using a 7-0 run where it held Stony Brook without a point for more than three minutes to even the contest at 19-19.

Jared Frey and Collin O’Connor connected on shots from beyond the arc to put the Seawolves ahead 26-19 entering the break. The Seawolves took an eight-point lead on two occasions early on in the second half, but could never push the advantage to double figures. 

Towson used another 7-0 run, this time spanning nearly five minutes to trim its deficit to one point, 31-30. The Tigers took their first lead of the afternoon on a Tyler Tejada basket inside with 7:29 to play, never relinquishing the lead from that point on.

A pair of free throws by Frey knotted the contest at 37-37 less than a minute later, but Towson built up a five-point lead that it maintained until the final two minutes of play.

Free throws by Frey and Ben Wight brought the Seawolves within one point with 1:02 remaining, but Towson locked down defensively and iced the game with second-chance opportunities and free throw shooting.

“Tough loss; we played hard and were able to match Towson’s physicality, which is their best quality,” head coach Geno Ford noted. “We gave up three offensive rebounds on the free throw line, which hurt, and we couldn’t score on a couple possessions in a row inside two minutes. Our inexperience showed down the stretch.”

The team returns home to host Campbell on Jan. 23. The Seawolves and Camels tip off at 7 p.m. from Stony Brook Arena, with the contest airing live on SNY and streaming on FloCollege.

Stony Brook men’s basketball dropped a road contest to Delaware, 84-74, on Thursday evening at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware. .Joe Octave and CJ Luster II combined to score 43 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Blue Hens’ offense.

Stony Brook played well early on, jumping out to a lead and holding an advantage in the scoring column over the opening five minutes of action.

After Delaware used back-to-back three-point makes to go ahead, the Seawolves answered with back-to-back triples of their own courtesy of Leon Nahar and Luster. A Nick Woodard basket bookended an 8-0 run by Stony Brook that put the Seawolves ahead, 19-14, at the 11:22 mark.

Stony Brook went nearly three minutes without a basket, allowing the Blue Hens to regain the lead. Jared Frey connected from deep to push the Seawolves back ahead, 22-21.

The contest continued to go back and forth, seeing the lead change hands once more in favor of Delaware. Stony Brook flipped things with a 9-2 run over a two-minute span to turn a two-point deficit into a four-point lead.

The Blue Hens closed out the final four minutes of the first half with a 10-6 scoring run to take a 39-37 lead into the locker room.

Octave opened the second half scoring with a basket inside to even the score before Delaware took control of the contest.

The Blue Hens built a double-digit lead less than nine minutes into the second half, maintaining a comfortable lead for the remainder of regulation.

A six-point spurt brought Stony Brook within seven points of Delaware with nine minutes to play, but it was as close as they would come for the rest of the evening.

Delaware led by as many as 17 at one point; Stony Brook battled back but time ran out on the Seawolves’ late push.

“Offensively, we did some good stuff. Delaware has a nice team and both their high-major transfers played like it. We had zero answer for Lane or Camden,” head coach Geno Ford said. “I am really disappointed in our rebounding, because that’s not a strength of their team and we have been one of the better offensive rebounding teams in our conference so far. Tonight, that didn’t show up. We have no consistency as a group right now.

Stony Brook men’s basketball battled with Northeastern, ultimately falling 70-66, on Jan. 11 at Stony Brook Arena. The Seawolves erased a 14-point, first-half deficit, but faltered down the stretch and allowed the Huskies to escape with the four-point victory.

Northeastern started fast, scoring the first eight points of the evening and building an early 10-3 lead.

CJ Luster II started scorching hot to allow Stony Brook to hang around in the early going, connecting on a pair of threes to get the Seawolves on the board.

The Huskies built their lead back to seven points at the 12:10 mark, but the Seawolves fought back to make it a one-possession game on multiple occasions.

Northeastern used a 16-4 run to construct a 14-point lead, the largest gap between the two teams in the first half. The run spanned more than four minutes. The Huskies carried a 13-point advantage into the intermission.

Stony Brook narrowed the deficit to single digits on a Joe Octave jumper early in the second half, but Northeastern responded with a three on the ensuing possession to push the Seawolves’ deficit back to double figures.

Another Seawolves spurt offensively made it an eight-point game with more than 14 minutes remaining. Nick Woodard buried a triple to bookend a 7-0 Stony Brook run, bringing the Seawolves within five points of the Huskies.

Stony Brook tied the contest at 50 on a Woodard basket inside with 8:07 to play, evening the score for the first time since the opening tip.

The Seawolves grabbed their first lead of the evening, 52-50, on a basket inside by Woodard out of the under-eight timeout.

Stony Brook’s lead grew to five points on a steal-and-score by Collin O’Connor, leading to a Northeastern timeout. Defensively, the Seawolves forced five Huskies’ turnovers and held Northeastern without a point for more than four minutes to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage with 5:31 to play.JB Frankel ended Northeastern’s scoring drought with a trifecta on a second-chance effort, but O’Connor answered on the other end to make it a two-possession contest once more.

Back-to-back Northeastern baskets followed, tying the game at 57-57 and forcing Stony Brook to use its first timeout of the second half. The Huskies regained the lead, 59-57, with two minutes remaining after Masai Troutman was fouled on a three-point attempt and made two of three.

Northeastern scored 11 straight points, holding Stony Brook scoreless for more than four minutes to erase the deficit and take a 64-57 lead with less than a minute to play.

Leon Nahar and Woodard connected on three-pointers, with Woodard’s pulling the Seawolves within three points of Northeastern with 16 seconds left. 

Andre Snoddy buried a triple after a pair of Huskies’ free throws, making it a one-possession game again, but Troutman made his 13th and 14th free throws of the contest to make it a four-point game with 2.6 seconds left.

Northeastern ultimately erased the late deficit and completed the comeback, taking down Stony Brook 70-66.

“We really competed hard tonight. The crowd was awesome. We were up five points with five minutes to go and just couldn’t make a big play down the stretch,” said head coach Geno Ford. “We took some steps forward in some areas and just have to keep working at it.”

Up next, the team hits the road to face Delaware on Thursday, Jan. 16. The Seawolves and Blue Hens tip-off at 6:30 p.m. from the Bob Carpenter Center, with the contest streaming on FloCollege.

Stony Brook men’s basketball fell to Drexel, 67-51, on Thursday evening at Stony Brook Arena. CJ Luster II tallied a team-high 21 points, but the Seawolves offense was outscored 13-2 over the final eight-plus minutes of action and suffered a loss at the hands of the Dragons.

Stony Brook and Drexel went back and forth early on before the Dragons took control out of the under-12 media timeout.

Drexel used a 20-7 run that spanned nearly eight minutes to turn a one-point game into a 30-16 advantage with less than five minutes to play in the half.

The Seawolves’ offense ripped off 10 unanswered points, holding Drexel scoreless for more than four minutes to trim their deficit to four points. The Dragons broke the scoreless streak with a basket in the final minute of the half, but Luster’s buzzer-beating jumper made it a four-point game again as the contest entered the intermission.

Stony Brook kept it close, staying within one or two possessions of Drexel for the first 11-plus minutes of the second half, but could not find a way to go in front. A Joe Octave basket with 8:11 to play made it a five-point game, 54-49, but the Seawolves’ offense went cold.

Drexel scored 10 straight points, holding Stony Brook scoreless for more than seven minutes to ice the game.

Stony Brook did not make a field goal over the final eight-plus minutes of play, missing its final seven field goal attempts and eventually falling, 67-51, to Drexel.

The team wraps up its three-game homestand, welcoming Northeastern on Jan. 11. The Seawolves and Huskies tip-off at 7 pm from Stony Brook Arena, with the contest airing live on SNY and streaming on FloCollege.

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.