Cold-shooting Stony Brook loses at Vermont
BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Capturing the top seed in the America East Conference Tournament still is possible, but it's no longer in Stony Brook's control.
The Seawolves missed out on an opportunity to clinch the No. 1 seed and at least a share of the regular-season title when they fell to Vermont, 68-49, at sold-out Patrick Gymnasium Sunday afternoon.
Outscored 45-27 in the second half and limited to 0-for-15 three-point shooting in the game, Stony Brook (17-8) saw its winning streak end at eight.
The Seawolves remain in first place at 12-2, but Vermont (17-10, 11-2) will earn the top seed if it wins its remaining three conference games, thanks to its sweep of third-place Boston University (10-3).
"We've been preaching it, talking about it all year, about trying to get that top seed, but right now it's out of our hands," said Dallis Joyner, who had 13 points and six rebounds and shot 5-for-5. "We didn't play good enough today."
Vermont freshman reserve Four McGlynn shot 4-for-5 from three-point range in the second half in scoring 20 of his career-high 24 points. He had eight points in a 13-0 run that gave Vermont a 48-30 lead with 7:34 remaining.In the second half, the Catamounts shot 52.2 percent and connected on 6 of 11 three-point attempts.
Stony Brook was held without a three-pointer for the first time in 175 games since November 2007 and struggled at the foul line, hitting four of its first 11 free throws and finishing 15-for-26.
"I thought our offense would kick in a little in the second half, but you can't miss free throws and easy shots," Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said. "We had some open threes from some of our guys who have been very good three-point shooters. We just could never claw our way back into it."
The Catamounts shot 7-for-8 from the field to begin the game, including three three-pointers and three other jump shots, in taking a 17-8 lead. But with the score 21-9, Stony Brook forced eight straight misses, held Vermont scoreless for 7:42 and scored 11 straight points to move within one.
"Stony Brook did a great job of pressuring us, especially at the end of the first half," McGlynn said. "They made it a lot harder for us to make cuts and get open, so we rushed a lot of shots and took some bad ones. In the beginning of the second half, when we got out in transition, we got the lead open. They started pressuring us again, and we started getting dribble penetration and that opened up a lot of lanes and shots for everyone."
Joyner scored 10 points in the first half on the strength of four offensive rebounds. Tommy Brenton (nine rebounds) and Dave Coley added nine points each. Bryan Dougher, the Seawolves' leading scorer with a 13.9 average, was held to eight points and shot 2-for-14, including 0-for-7 on three-pointers.
Matt Glass had 13 points and Brendan Bald 12 for Vermont. Josh Elbaum (St. John the Baptist) had five assists.
Stony Brook will wrap up conference play at Hartford (6-7) and against Maine (5-8). The Seawolves, who can finish no lower than third, still can capture the top seed if Vermont slips up in one of its final three conference games at Albany (8-6), at Binghamton (0-12) or against UMBC (2-11).
After the first three rounds of the conference tournament are played at the University of Hartford, the highest remaining seed will host the championship game, which is why earning the No. 1 seed is particularly important. Stony Brook is 12-0 at home this season and 1-10 against Vermont in Burlington. And in the 32-year history of the America East (and its predecessor, the North Atlantic Conference), the home team has won 25 times in the 28 years that a tournament final has been contested on a team's home court.
Pikiell said he's not worried about seeding, but it's safe to say he'll keep an eye on Vermont's final stretch, which includes the tough game at Albany on Wednesday.
"When you play in these games, you have to play well to beat good teams, and we didn't play well enough to beat a good team," he said. "I would love to be the No. 1 seed, but we might have to settle for something else."