Stony Brook ushered out of CAA Tournament
Dalton Bolon #3 of the Charleston Cougars drives against Frankie Policelli #2 of the Stony Brook Seawolves in the first half during the CAA Men's Basketball Championship - quarterfinal game at the Entertainment & Sports Arena on March 5, 2023 in Washington, DC. Credit: Getty Images/Mitchell Layton
WASHINGTON — Stony Brook was unable to overcome a horrid start and lost to the College of Charleston, 74-52, in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament on Sunday at the Entertainment and Sports Arena.
Coming off a 76-61 win over North Carolina A&T on Saturday, the 10th-seeded Seawolves (11-22) were unable to keep pace with the second-seeded Cougars (29-3), who opened the game on a 22-2 run.
Graduate center Keenan Fitzmorris led Stony Brook with 18 points and freshman guard Toby Onyekonwu had 10 points and eight rebounds. Graduate forward Frankie Policelli, who had 30 points and 16 rebounds Saturday, was held to five points and eight boards Sunday.
“The speed they play with just got us on our heels, and we did a terrible job taking care of the ball,” SBU coach Geno Ford said. “We had seven turnovers in the first eight minutes and then we had five the last 32.”
Stony Brook finished with a better shooting percentage than Charleston (.393 to .382), but the Cougars turned 15 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
The Seawolves turned the ball over three times in the opening minutes and Ryan Larson’s three-pointer made it 11-0 at 17:03. Tanahj Pettway got the Seawolves on the board, but Raekwon Horton’s three pushed the Charleston lead to 22-2.
Fitzmorris’ baseline one-hander capped a 9-3 run that pulled the Seawolves within 25-11, but the Cougars responded and led 42-26 at intermission.
“We were hoping we could come out and make the first run and get it under 10 and put them under some game pressure, and they did a great job at the start of the second half and it got up to 20,” Ford said. “Proud of our guys. No shame in losing to them.”
