Stony Brook faces key game at Vermont Sunday
Stony Brook guard Marcus Rouse controls the ball as Binghamton head coach Mark Macon watches in the NCAA Division I men's basketball game. (Feb. 1, 2012) Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
The Stony Brook men's basketball team faces a potential season-turning game at noon Sunday at Vermont, with important postseason implications.
The Seawolves (17-7), who have won 14 of their last 15, are 12-1 in America East play and hold a 11/2-game lead over second-place Vermont (16-10, 10-2).
With a win over Vermont, Stony Brook would clinch the top seed in the postseason tournament and at least a share of the regular-season title -- but if the Catamounts win, they'll control their own destiny in terms of earning the top seed.
If Vermont wins Sunday and splits the season series against Stony Brook, and both teams then win out and finish at 14-2 in America East play, Vermont will be awarded the No. 1 seed based on a better record against third-place Boston University (10-3). The Catamounts swept BU and Stony Brook split with the Terriers.
Why is that important? The first three rounds of the America East Tournament will be played at Chase Family Arena in West Hartford, Conn. -- but the highest remaining seed will host the championship game. Stony Brook is 12-0 at home this season. 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 (including Hofstra over Delaware in 2000 and 2001).
The exceptions: Albany won at Vermont in 2007, Vermont won at Boston University in 2003 and Delaware won at Drexel in 1993.
The Catamounts -- who are 7-4 at home this season -- have a 17-6 lead in the series against Stony Brook, including a 9-1 record at home.
