Northeastern and Stony Brook went back-and-forth for 20 minutes before the Huskies opened up what seemed like a safe lead, at least until their former America East rivals responded with a big blow of her own. Stony Brook used a huge 17-2 run late in the second half to take the lead and never looked back as they ended the Huskies five-game winning streak over the Seawolves.
Despite four Huskies finishing in double figures, Northeastern (12-15, 8-9 Colonial Athletic Association) fell 76-69 to Stony Brook (18-8, 12-2 America East) in their seventh appearance as part of BracketBuster weekend (4-3). Joel Smith led the Huskies with 20 points on six 3-pointers and added three assists. The junior co-captain knocked down 7-of-12 shots overall and 6-of-10 attempts from behind the arc.
Co-captain Jonathan Lee added 15 points and three assists and freshmen forward Quincy Ford recorded 14 points and three assists. Junior forward Kauri Black was the final player in double figures for Northeastern as he finished with 10 points and tied for the team-high with five rebounds. For the game Northeastern shot 51 percent (26-of-51) and knocked down 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) of their 3-point shots, but they couldn't overcome the Seawolves dominance on the boards.
The Seawolves outrebounded the Huskies 38-26 and grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, leading to 26 second chance points. Forwards Tommy Brenton and Dallis Joyner led the way for the Seawolves inside.
Brenton finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, five of which came on the offensive end, and a team-high seven assists in 31 minutes. His partner in crime was just as good, Joyner contributed a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds for Stony Brook.
Shooting guard Dave Coley led the Seawolves with 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting and a strong performance from the free throw line (8-of-10). Stony Brook shot 47.5 percent (28-of-59) and hit 13-of-19 (68.4 percent) free throws to hold off the Huskies for the Seawolves first nonconference road win of the season.
In the team's first meeting since 2005 when Northeastern left the America East Conference, the two teams traded the lead nine times in the first half, with the score knotted at 35 entering the break.
After neither team held a lead of more than four for the first 10 minutes, both teams went on mini runs to grab two possesion leads. A Bryan Dougher 3-pointer capped a 7-1 Seawolves run to give them a 26-20 lead with 7:06 to play in the half, before the Huskies responded with a 15-2 run of their own. Behind three 3-pointers and three Reggie Spencer assists, the Huskies built a 35-28 lead during the 15-2 run but it would all be erased before the break.
The Seawolves capped their 7-0 run entering the break with three baskets in the final 32 seconds. After Coley made a jumper and was fouled, the Seawolves grabbed an offensive rebound on the missed free throws and made it a 5-0 run on a Leonard Hayes 3-pointer with nine seconds to play. A quick Northeastern turnover gave the Seawolves one last chance and Coley made the Huskies pay with a last second jumper.
Northeastern controlled much of the first 15 minutes of the second half, with seven point leads at three seperate junctures, but the Huskies failed to put serious distance between the two teams. With the Huskies leading 62-53 with 5:53 to play, everything came unwound for the Huskies. Stony Brook went on a 17-2 run behind five points from Brenton and four points apiece from Coley and Al Rapier.
When the run finally finished with a Joyner dunk, the Seawolves held a 70-64 lead that they would never give away. The Huskies cut the deficit to as few as three (72-69) on Smith's sixth 3-pointer of the game, but they failed to score again over the final forty seconds.
The Huskies will be back in action on Tuesday when they host George Mason at 7 p.m. EDT.