VESTAL, N.Y. – When Maine’s Mark Socoby banked in a 26-footer to tie the game with 4.2 seconds left in regulation Friday night, it could have been a real confidence-killer for Stony Brook.

Instead, the Seawolves answered the clutch shot with an efficient effort in overtime while pulling away for a 73-65 victory over the University of Maine in the first round of the America East Men’s Basketball Championship.

“They tied the game up with a banked 3 from 40 feet and that’s kind of demoralizing sometimes,” said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell, “but our guys played better in the overtime, so I was real proud of our guys gutting it out in the overtime.”

Coach Ted Woodward’s ninth-seeded Black Bears lost their seventh in a row, finishing the campaign at 7-23.

The eighth-seeded Seawolves (7-22) advanced to today’s noon quarterfinal against No. 1 Maryland Baltimore County at Binghamton University’s Events Center.

The Seawolves had won both regular-season meetings vs. UMaine, including a 56-51 decision Feb. 23 in Orono.

UMaine received inspired performances from sophomore backcourt mates Socoby and Junior Bernal.

Houlton native Socoby set an AE tournament record by knocking down nine 3-pointers on 9-for-16 shooting. He played the entire 45 minutes in his collegiate postseason debut, despite coming off a serious bout with the flu.

“I thought Mark really put our team on his shoulders and I thought all of our guys went out and played very hard but unfortunately came out on the short end,” Woodward said.

“He just started practicing [Wednesday],” he added. “I thought that he came back and gave us everything he had.”

Bernal, who had missed five of the previous six games with a painful foot injury, also demonstrated his grit. He provided nine points, five rebounds and two assists while giving UMaine a calming presence in the backcourt.

“He showed a lot of guts coming out there on a bum foot,” Socoby said. “He was in the training room every day, getting treatments to try and come back as quick as he could, and I’ve got to give the guy at lot of credit for that.”

Their efforts weren’t enough to get the Bears over the top against a well-balanced SBU ballclub. The Seawolves’ relentless full-court pressure eventually resulted in 20 UMaine turnovers.

And Stony Brook capitalized on some transition chances after the break, overcoming an 11-point, second-half deficit.

Despite watching Socoby prolong the contest, SBU was sharp at both ends in overtime because of its advantage in depth and quickness.

The Seawolves scored 10 unanswered points during the first 2:05 of the extra period to finally shake the determined Bears. And they went 10-for-10 from the foul line down the stretch.

“We did what good teams are supposed to do at the end of a basketball game,” Pikiell said. “We got a lot of contributions.”

Stony Brook won it thanks to an active 2-3 zone and a box-and-one set that bottled up the Bears in the second half. After Bernal drove in for a layup with 9:42 left in regulation, UMaine went nearly 141/2 minutes without scoring another field goal.

“I also thought they did a very good job defensively when they needed to,” credited Woodward, singling out Mitchell Beauford’s efforts against Socoby in the late going.

“I still felt like we had some decent looks. Unfortunately, we couldn’t come away with anything,” he added.

In overtime, Stony Brook’s Demetrius Young scored off a baseline cut only 20 seconds into the period, then Nick Carter made a putback after at UMaine turnover. Carter followed with two foul shots, then Young snipped a short turnaround shot to make it 65-57 with 2:55 to play.

Socoby drained two more 3-pointers in the last 21.5 seconds, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Kaimondre Owes contributed 10 points and four assists for the Bears, while freshman Sean McNally of Gardiner posted nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds. UMaine shot only 33 percent from the field.

Ricky Lucas was one of a several key contributors for the Seawolves with 18 points, six rebounds and three steals. Carter finished with 16 points, while Young posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Beauford added 11 points.

The Bears played a solid first half and were rewarded with a 33-28 lead at intermission.

UMaine’s 2-3 zone did an excellent job of shutting off the Seawolves’ quality post looks, although Stony Brook was able to come up with 11 offensive rebounds, five by Young, that led to 12 second-chance points.

The big key in the half for the Bears was their ability to handle SBU’s full-court pressure. UMaine was forced to bring all five players into the backcourt against the press, but was able to limit its turnovers to eight.

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

990-8240

SEAWOLVES 73, BLACK BEARS 65 (OT)

Maine (7-23) Stony Brook (7-22)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

McNally 3 7 3 5 9 Paul 0 2 0

Andre 1 3 5 6 7 Neto 3 8 7

Bernal 4 10 1 2 9 Tyree 0 4 0

Owes 2 15 4 4 10 Lucas 5 12 4 18

Socoby 9 16 3 3 30 Martin 0 6 0

Hanzlik 0 2 0 0 0 Cox 1 1 2

Costigan 0 1 0 0 0 Castllnos 1 2

Cook 0 0 0 0 0 Beauford 4 8 11

Bofia 0 3 0 0 0 Carter 5 12 16

Pitt 1 3 0 2

Young 7 9 1 15

Totals 19 57 16 20 65 Totals 27 67 12 13 73

Maine 33 24 8 65

Stony Brook 28 29 16 73

3-pt. goals – Maine (11-29): Socoby 9-16, Owes2-6, Hanzlik 0-1, Tchekane Bofia 0-1, Bernal 0-2, McNally 0-3; Stony Brook (7-21): Lucas 4-9, Carter 2-5, Beauford 1-3, Tyree 0-4

Attendance: 2,202