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Tyler Stephenson-Moore

#14 Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored a game-high 21 points, registering the 1,000th point of his collegiate career during last Saturday's game. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook University men’s basketball team fell to Charleston, 93-87, on Jan. 6 at Island Federal Arena. Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored a game-high 21 points, registering the 1,000th point of his collegiate career in the first half.

Stony Brook started fast on Saturday, jumping out to an early 18-8 lead after the opening eight minutes of action. The Cougars responded with an 8-0 run, trimming the deficit to two points. A basket from Andre Snoddy put the Seawolves back up two possessions before Charleston evened the contest at 20-20.

Tyler Stephenson-Moore

After Charleston grabbed a 27-25 lead, a 20-3 run by the Seawolves ensued, with a huge windmill dunk from Stephenson-Moore in the middle of it. The slam accounted for the 1,000th point of Stephenson-Moore’s career, an emphatic way to become the program’s 28th 1,000-point scorer.

The Cougars whittled their deficit to seven points entering the half and would battle back to tie the contest, 53-53, five minutes into the second half. The two sides went back-and-forth over the next 10-plus minutes, seeing the lead change hands 10 times without either team holding more than a two-possession lead.

Stony Brook surrendered its lead for the final time with 4:17 remaining in regulation, seeing Charleston shoot nearly 70 percent from the field in the second half and complete the comeback.

“It was a great college ball basketball game. Stinks we lost. We played a great team, we played at a high level, we did a lot of good things. … With a two possession game like that we needed one miss out of them and one more make out of us and we’d be having a whole different vibe in the locker room right now,” said head coach Geno Ford after the game. 

“I think we hopefully learned today that we are capable of being a great basketball team ourselves and we’ve got a lot of games and big games yet to come for us down the road here,” he added.

The team hits the road for the first of three games away from home, facing Towson on January 11. Tip-off between the Seawolves and Tigers is scheduled for 7 p.m. at TU Arena with the contest streaming live on FloHoops.

#14 Tyler Stephenson-Moore at Saturday's game. Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook men’s basketball team (6-10, 2-1 CAA) hosted the Towson Tigers (10-6, 2-1 CAA) on Jan. 7 and fell, 67-55, at Island Federal Arena.

Towson, who was picked first in the 2022-23 CAA Preseason Coaches Poll, led for the majority of the contest as it was paced by four student-athletes scoring in double figures. The Seawolves battled tough as they kept the game within striking distance. Stony Brook trailed 30-22 at halftime and were able to keep it at around that mark for the duration of the second half. 

With 17:44 remaining, graduate forward Frankie Policelli got inside the paint and fought through contact, draining a big bucket plus a foul to cut the Stony Brook deficit to single digits, 35-27. 

With 11:48 to play, graduate center Keenan Fitzmorris drained a long three-pointer to cut the deficit to 49-40. It was the fourth three-point make of the season for Fitzmorris.

The Tigers kept their pace throughout the rest of the second half and found themselves up 65-51 with under two minutes remaining. WIth 1:57 remaining in the contest, senior guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore stole the ball and dribbled down the floor in transition, which led to a massive left-handed slam dunk.

Stephenson-Moore provided the late spark for the Seawolves, but Towson left Long Island with a 12-point win. 

#14 Tyler Stephenson-Moore takes a shot during last Saturday evening's game. Photo from Stony Brook Athletics

The Stony Brook men’s basketball team went toe-to-toe with Yale in front of an energized crowd inside Island Federal Arena on Dec. 3. The Seawolves put forth a valiant effort as they were led by senior guard Tyler Stephenson-Moore and graduate guard Aaron Clarke, who each posted 20-point outings. Despite the Seawolves’ efforts, the Bulldogs were able to narrowly pull away, 77-72, to improve to 8-1 on the season. 

Clarke made his Stony Brook debut and gave the Seawolves a lift off the bench as he scored 20 points in 22 minutes. The graduate checked into the game with 15:44 to play in the first half and scored his first points as a Seawolf at the 13:29 mark when he knocked down a three-pointer.

Stephenson-Moore led the way offensively for Stony Brook as he scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Stephenson-Moore helped fuel an 8-0 run in the second half as he drilled a three to cut Yale’s lead to 67-62 with 8:04 to play. 

The Seawolves and Bulldogs traded blows down the stretch. Stony Brook was able to get within two points of the lead three times over the final eight minutes of the game, but Yale came up with an answer on each occasion. With 1:06 to play in the contest, Clarke converted a pair of free-throws to make it 72-70. Yale returned the favor by cashing in on two free-throws on the ensuing possession with 43 seconds to play to go up, 74-70. A second-chance layup by graduate forward Frankie Policelli cut the Bulldog’s lead to two points, 74-72, as he cleaned up a missed three by Stephenson-Moore with 15 seconds to go. 

Yale was able to convert its free-throws down the stretch and go on to win by the final score of 77-72. The five-point margin of victory was the second-smallest of the season for Yale, its smallest margin of victory was three points when it defeated Hawaii, 62-59, in overtime earlier this season. 

“This [experience] is something we can build on,” said head coach Geno Ford after the game. “Tonight we played hard and we played well — it just wasn’t quite well enough to beat a really, really good Yale team From a coach perspective, I’m disappointed we lost … but we took a huge step forward and this is by far the best we’ve looked.”

Up next, the team will travel to Rhode Island to take on Brown on Dec.9. A quick turnaround finds the Seawolves back at Island Federal Arena on Dec. 12, for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off against Sacred Heart.

#14 Tyler Stephenson-Moore was on fire Saturday night. Photo courtesy of Stony Brook Athletics

Tyler Stephenson-Moore was there when the Seawolves needed him most.

The redshirt-sophomore rose up and pinned Daryl Banks III’s shot to the glass and the Stony Brook men’s basketball program improved to 7-4 with an electric 64-63 win over Saint Peter’s on Dec. 18 at Island Federal Arena

Stephenson-Moore finished with a team-high plus-12 overall, scoring eight points and grabbing six boards, but his one block was the biggest stat of the night as he propelled the home team to its fourth win in a row and sixth in the last seven tries.

The Seawolves used a 14-4 run to propel themselves ahead by seven with 1:56 to go, as Jahlil Jenkins scored half of the points during that spurt. The graduate guard finished the night with a game-high 15, with 13 of them coming in the second half.

Stony Brook was down by as much as 12 in the first half and only led for 4:33 on the night but were ahead when it mattered and sent a raucous Island Federal Arena crowd home happy.

“Well, thrilled we won. That’s a really good basketball team that was picked second in the MAAC behind Iona,” said head coach Geno Ford. “We could not make shots and we showed some toughness and I think at the end of the game speaks to the growth we’ve had toughness-wise. Tyler [Stephenson-Moore] is always a good competitor and has good character but we don’t have a ton of guys on our roster capable of missing a free throw, going down and making a game-saving block. For him to not foul and block it clean is amazing because he got beat on the dribble a little bit. The toughness of him and certainly our team has had a lot of growth so we’re very excited that we were able to win this one,” he said. 

“I give a lot of credit to playing back home and playing in the park because you know in the park they won’t give you anything free. They will foul you, they will push you, they did what they had to do to win. That’s where I got my toughness from playing at home when I was younger and growing up,” said redshirt junior guard Tykei Greene on his tough play.

“We’re a great shooting team and none of us were really panicking. It was kind of frustrating to see the shots that we should hit not go in but we know someone is gonna step up and knock it down. Once that happens then it’s just going to go uphill from there. He [Coach Ford] said just play and we can turn the game around,” said Stephenson-Moore.

Tyler Stephenson-Moore sends through a dunk the first half of Sunday’s win against Hartford.

Frankie Policelli and the Stony Brook men’s basketball team awakened from a shooting funk at an opportune time.

Policelli drained a pair of three-pointers less than two minutes apart early in the second half to open a double-digit advantage and the Seawolves went on to a 63-49 win against Hartford on Jan. 31 at Island Federal Arena.

The teams split the weekend series.

Stony Brook (8-8, 6-4 AE) overcame early shooting woes and foul issues to take a four-point halftime lead. And when Policelli drained a three-pointer with 15:24 remaining in the second half, the Seawolves opened a 41-29 advantage. 

Another three-pointer from Policelli two minutes later upped the Seawolves’ lead to 14 points.

After Hartford clawed within 46-40 midway through the second half, Juan Felix Rodriguez answered with a three-pointer and Omar Habwe converted a jumper to reopen a double-digit advantage.

“I thought we defended at a high level, and we got separation in the second half because we made threes,” coach Geno Ford said. “We finally made some shots. It makes the offense look a whole lot better.”

The Seawolves had shot 17.1 percent (12-for-70) from three-point range over their previous three games, including 8-for-31 in a 59-57 loss to Hartford on Jan. 30.

Policelli, who reaggravated a recurring hip issue during the second half, finished with a team-high 16 points. He shot 4-for-5 from behind the arc on Sunday.

Leighton Elliott-Sewell added a career-high 13 points. He had accounted for only four points in Stony Brook’s six games since Dec. 28 entering Sunday.

“I was just getting the ball in spots where I could score,” Elliott-Sewell said.

Tavin Pierre Philippe logged a season-high 20 minutes.

“I thought our bench was great in the first half when we needed it,” Ford said. “I thought our starters looked a little lethargic. We were able to get some real lift off that bench.”

The Seawolves had dropped four straight meetings with Hartford, including last year’s America East semifinal.

“It really was a big motivation for the team,” said Mouhamadou Gueye, who finished with nine points and five rebounds. Stony Brook hosts UMBC for a pair of games next weekend.

“Here comes the best team in the league in my opinion,” Ford said, citing UMBC’s speed, athleticism and size.