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ORONO – While evaluating his men’s basketball team’s matchup with the University of Maine for Saturday afternoon’s game at Alfond Arena, Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell fretted over Maine’s size advantage.
Even with the Black Bears banged up and missing a starter or two, the Seawolves did not match up well in a half-court contest.
Rather than try to field a bigger lineup, Pikiell went the other way and went smaller, relying on quickness and a change of tempo.
The tactic paid off in a big way, especially in the second half when SBU got even smaller, as the Seawolves swept the season series against the Bears with a 56-51 victory.
Stony Brook erased a 10-point halftime deficit.
“They did get bodies on us much better in the second half and part of that was they put in a quicker lineup with four guards,” said Maine freshman forward Sean McNally of Gardiner. “When we were breaking the press, the middle was wide open in the first half, but with their quicker guys, they cut that down more and it was harder for us to get to spots.”
Even with the smaller lineup, SBU still held its own on the boards, grabbing 14 of their 32 rebounds – six on the offensive boards – in the second half. The Bears had just 13 (six offensive) of their 37 in the second half. SBU also scored more points in the paint – 14-6 in the second half and 18-14 overall.
“We came out at halftime more energized and more able to play at the pace we wanted, playing fast and trapping,” Pikiel said.
Maine committed 12 of its 18 turnovers in the second half, as the halftime cushion turned into a one-point SBU lead with 7:09 to play.
“That smaller lineup made it harder for us to adjust,” said head coach Ted Woodward, whose Bears are now 7-20 overall, 3-11 in America East play.
The loss means Maine will need a minor miracle to avoid playing an AE tourney prelim game to advance to the quarterfinal round.
Maine seemed to have an answer for SBU’s 13-5 run to start the second half with a 10-1 scoring run to take a 47-39 lead with 4:42 to play. Sophomore guard Mark Socoby (14 points) of Houlton sparked the run with back-to-back 3-pointers and two foul shots for eight straight.
The Seawolves had a big response, however, in the form of a 12-1 game-clinching run lasting the next four minutes.
“We hit a bit of a dry spell in the second half and they had a few second-shot baskets in that sequence along with some fouls where we put them on the foul line, and they made their free throws,” said Woodward.
Freshman guard Chris Martin scored four of his 13 points to fuel the run.
“He played really well down the stretch along with Ricky Lucas, who made some big shots. Mitchell Beauford had some great minutes for us, too, and he gave us a lot of energy off the bench,” Pikiell said.
Lucas, who hit a 3 in the big run, scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half. Beauford had 13 points and three steals off the bench.
Junior guard Kaimondre Owes scored 12 points for the Bears, and McNally led Maine with nine rebounds.
“We needed to get together more on defense, box out and rebound, and just run plays, but we were real stagnant coming down the stretch and it showed,” Owes said. “We didn’t execute as much as they did.”
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SEAWOLVES 56, BLACK BEARS 51
Stony Brook (6-21) Maine (7-20)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Lucas 4 8 5 5 14 Barnies 0 2 0
Paul 1 5 2 2 4 McNally 2 7 0 4
Neto 1 6 0 0 2 Andre 4 6 0 8
Tyree 0 3 4 4 4 Owes 3 12 12
Martin 4 11 5 6 13 Socoby 4 11 14
Cox 0 0 0 0 0 Hanzlik 2 3 1 7
Cstellanos 0 0 0 0 0 Costigan 0 0
Beauford 5 7 3 4 13 Cook 0 0 0
Pitt 0 2 0 0 0 Peay 0 2 0 0
Young 2 4 1 2 6 Bofia 1 6 6
Carter 0 3 0 0 0
Totals 17 49 20 23 56 Totals 16 49 10 19 51
Stony Brook 17 56
Maine 27 51
3-pt. goals – Stony Brook (2-6): Lucas 1-1, Young 1-2, Tyree 0-1, Paul 0-1, Carter 0-1; Maine (9-25): Socoby 4-11, Hanzlik 2-3, Owes 2-8, Bofia 1-2, Barnies 0-1
Attendance: 1,385 (tickets issued)
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