Stony Brook beats LIU Brooklyn, 73-54
Stony Brook Forward Rayshaun McGrew (21) drives to the basket in the NIT Season Tip-Off against LIU Brooklyn at Madison Square Garden. Credit: Steven Ryan
With four freshmen playing major roles, coach Steve Pikiell has as young a team as he's ever had in his 10 seasons at Stony Brook. And with junior point guard and leading scorer Carson Puriefoy III limited to 20 minutes by foul trouble in an NIT Season Tip-Off game against LIU Brooklyn Thursday at Madison Square Garden, even more of the burden fell on the youngest Seawolves.
But with the guidance of juniors Jameel Warney and Rayshaun McGrew, Stony Brook passed another early-season test, scoring a dominant 73-54 victory over the Blackbirds that could have served as a clinic in defense and team basketball.
Warney's string of double-double performances to open the season was snapped at five when he fell one rebound short, grabbing nine boards to go with a game-high 18 points plus three assists. McGrew (13 points, 11 rebounds, three assists) and redshirt freshman Roland Nyama (16 points, eight rebounds) came on strong and Puriefoy had 10 points for the Seawolves (4-2).
In addition to Nyama, SBU got big contributions from freshmen Tyrell Sturdivant (five points, five rebounds, two blocks), Deshaun Thrower (five points, three assists) and Bryan Sekunda. All played excellent defense, holding LIU (0-3) to 26.9 percent field-goal shooting in the second half and 9.5 percent shooting for the game from three-point range (2-for-21).
"They're growing up right in front of our eyes," Warney, who reached the 1,000-point mark with a dunk in the final minutes, said of the freshmen. "They're succeeding every day in getting better and they're helping us in big games."
Nyama has calmed down since scoring only seven points in the first three games. He followed a 10-point effort in Tuesday's win over Western Kentucky with an even better game against LIU.
"The redshirt year helped me tremendously," he said. "I still get nervous, but the coaching staff does a great job of just telling me to play basketball . . . Trey [Puriefoy] found me a couple times and Jameel found me a couple times. All thanks to the team."
Stony Brook built a 16-point first-half lead but let it slip to 36-31 at halftime after committing 10 of its 19 turnovers. Puriefoy played only seven minutes in the half. But Nyama converted a three-point play and fed Warney for a dunk during a 12-0 run that pushed the lead to 48-31 before LIU scored its first points of the second half at the 13:24 mark. Stony Brook twice led by 21, the last on a three-pointer by Nyama that made it 73-52.
Winning despite limited minutes from Puriefoy was a holiday treat for Pikiell. "Trey is the leading scorer in the league right now, and he's an important part," he said. "But we learned how to play without him. It's a credit to our young guys. They're figuring it out a little bit.
"This preseason NIT has been great for us with Western Kentucky and then to play here at the Garden on ESPNU is great for our program."
Greg Logan has worked for Newsday since 1982 covering a wide array of sports and events, currently including the Brooklyn Nets beat.
