Stony Brook's Dean Noll scores 23 points, lifts Seawolves into CAA quarterfinals
Dean Noll of the Stony Brook Seawolves takes a shot over Chris Doherty of the Northeastern Huskies in the first half during the second round of the CAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the Entertainment & Sports Arena on Saturday in Washington. Credit: Getty Images/Mitchell Layton
The formula is simple.
Experience plus quality guard play equals success in March. It is the formula to extend seasons in elimination games.
Just ask Stony Brook coach Geno Ford.
“It’s enormously important to have great guard play in the postseason,” Ford said after the seventh-seeded Seawolves’ 75-65 win over No. 10 Northeastern in a CAA Tournament second-round game Saturday night at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington.
Stony Brook (18-14) will meet second-seeded Drexel in a quarterfinal game on Sunday at 6 p.m.
“Definitely looking forward to playing [Sunday],” said Dean Noll, who tied a career high with 23 points.
Noll, Aaron Clarke and Tyler Stephenson-Moore put on a show. The trio totaled 63 points, nearly matching Northeastern’s output. Stephenson-Moore finished with 21 and Clarke had 19.
“A lot of guys played well,” Ford said. “Obviously, Dean was terrific but we needed everybody, that’s for sure.”
The 7-10 matchup was the third meeting of the season between the teams. The Seawolves won the first two matchups.
Stony Brook used a 10-2 run over the final 2:14 of the first half to go into halftime with a 35-29 advantage. The spurt was sparked by Clarke’s four-point play. The graduate student drilled a three-pointer while being knocked down by Masai Troutman, and when he made the free throw, the Seawolves took a 29-27 lead.
Northeastern’s Chris Doherty tied the score with a layup on the ensuing possession. Stony Brook responded with Stephenson-Moore’s three-point play and Noll’s three-pointer to end the half.
The Huskies opened the second half with an 11-9 spurt to cut Stony Brook’s lead to 44-40. But Stephenson-Moore sandwiched two three-pointers around Collin Metcalf’s jumper to extend the advantage to 50-42.
Northeastern guard Jared Turner converted a layup to cut the deficit to six before Stony Brook went on a 12-5 run in a 3:46 span to stretch the Seawolves’ lead to 62-47.
The teams traded baskets in the final five minutes of the game, with Stephenson-Moore’s spectacular two-handed dunk with 23 seconds left putting the final touches on the win.
Along with the play of Stony Brook’s veteran guards, another key to the win was the Seawolves’ defensive play. Stony Brook held Northeastern to 35.4% shooting (23-for-65) from the field, including 1-for-9 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Troutman led the Huskies with 16 points. Metcalf had 14, Turner 13 and Rashad King 12.
Ford thought limiting Doherty to seven points was “probably the reason we won the game.”
“Our length is good inside,” Ford said. “[Doherty] is a good player and we were able to keep him from being a huge factor, which he typically is for them.”
