STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Stony Brook University took advantage of 24 turnovers by the University of Maine and extended the Black Bears’ losing streak to six games with a 75-59 men’s basketball victory at SBU Arena Sunday afternoon.

Senior guard Mitchell Beauford led the 4-10 SBU Seawolves with 21 points and three steals. SBU’s three backcourt starters accounted for 43 points, seven rebounds, 10 assists and seven steals to give the Seawolves their first America East conference victory.

The 4-10 Black Bears got a game-high 27 points from sophomore forward Mark Socoby of Houlton in their America East conference schedule opener, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an early 16-point deficit.

“The first 10 minutes, we were fine and up two, but we made some costly errors and got a little sloppy,” said Maine coach Ted Woodward. “We had two turnovers, a couple missed layups and some other things that set us back.

“They made a four-minute spurt where we got behind and never really got past playing catch-up after that.”

Socoby hit eight of 12 shots from the field (75 percent) and also had five rebounds and four assists.

Starting center Brian Andre of Bingham has the flu and was able to play just two minutes for the Bears.

“Sean [McNally] and Jordan [Cook] filled in pretty well, but that creates a huge hole for us,” said Woodward.

Sophomore point guard Junior Bernal had a tough game, scoring nine points on 4-for-10 shooting from the field and 1-for-6 shooting from the line. He grabbed six rebounds, but made just one assist.

Free throw woes continued for the Bears, who hit just 11 of 20 from the line.

“Turnovers and free throw shooting just dug too deep a hole for us,” Woodward said. “Our games right now have all been similar in that we find ourselves playing catch-up early on.”

The turnovers are especially troublesome to Woodward.

“It’s an area in which we struggled early on and unfortunately, it seems to have ballooned again and this is team that really concentrates on that and takes advantage of them,” he said. “That’s something we have to get better on and cut down on carelessness.”

On the plus side, Maine continued to outrebound opponents, this time grabbing 41 total to Stony Brook’s 31.

“We held them to nine offensive rebounds and outrebounded them, and they’re one of the best rebounding teams in the league right now,” Woodward said.

Junior forward Philippe Tchekane Bofia led Bears’ effort on the boards with 10 rebounds. He also led the Bears with four assists.

Ricky Lucas scored 18 points and Jermol Paul added 12 for the Seawolves. Demetrius Young had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Woodward admitted he’s concerned with how Maine’s losing streak will affect his young squad’s mental approach.

“You don’t want it to be so much on their mind and you want them to grow as a team and understand there are things you have to be patient with that won’t improve overnight,” he said. “We just have to make sure they don’t lose confidence in that and that’s where our older players come into it.”

SEAWOLVES 75, BLACK BEARS 59

Maine (4-10) Stony Brook (4-10)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hight 0 3 0 0 0 Castellns 1 4

Bernal 4 10 1 6 9 Lucas 6 13 18

Socoby 8 12 4 5 27 Beauford 8 13 4 5 21

Cook 2 5 0 0 4 Young 3 6 2 8

Bofia 2 8 0 0 4 Neto 2 6 5

Barnies 0 2 0 0 0 Tyree 1 5 2

Hanzlik 0 5 0 0 0 Pitt 1 1 2

Owes 1 3 4 7 6 Paul 3 4 5 12

Andre 0 1 0 0 0 Carter 1 4 3

Costigan 0 1 0 0 0

Peay 0 0 0 0 0

McNally 3 3 2 2 9

Totals 20 53 11 20 59 Totals 26 58 18 23 75

Maine 29 59

Stony Brook 45 75

3-pt. goals – Maine (8-21): Socoby 7-10, McNally 1-1, Tchekane Bofia 0-1, Barnies 0-1, Hight 0-2, Owes 0-2, Hanzlik 0-4; Stony Brook (5-17): Lucas 2-6, Beauford 1-3, Carter 1-3, Paul 1-1, Tyree 0-4

Attendance: 788