Sports

Stony Brook in sight of crown

Pritchard Gymnasium was as loud as ever Friday night. Stony Brook’s tiny court was sold out, the student section nearly as involved as the players, the scene a microcosm of the program’s growth over the past three years.

The Seawolves took a big step toward locking up their second straight America East regular-season championship, and third in four years, with a spirit-crushing smackdown of second-place Vermont, 65-48. The victory nearly ensures a conference championship game at home, should they reach it, while ending a streak of three straight losses to the Catamounts.

Stony Brook (19-6, 10-2) avenged last month’s loss at Vermont (16-9, 9-4), but will have to wait another month before being able to avenge their title game loss to the Catamounts last year in Suffolk County and have the opportunity to make their first NCAA Tournament.

“We take them one game at a time, but everyone had this one circled on the map because it’s Vermont and because of what they’ve done to us in the past,” said senior Tommy Brenton. “With Vermont being our rival, it felt to good get a win against them in particular. It was definitely a big game.”

Senior Marcus Rouse nearly doubled his scoring average in the game’s first eight minutes, scoring 11 of his team-high 16 points to put Stony Brook up 35-29 at halftime. Meanwhile, leading scorer Jameel Warney was limited to only one shot in those first 20 minutes.

The freshman center was continually fronted and collapsed on by weak-side help, but the Rookie of the Week honors hoarder opened the second half with several touches, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds on 5-of-5 shooting, as Vermont failed to get within single-digits in the final 16 minutes and Stony Brook’s lead stretched to 22.

“In the beginning of the season it was one person guarding me and I’d take advantage of that, but with three people on me, our team is talented enough to score without me having an input on the team,” Warney said. “They have to pick their poison. If they guard me with four people and let the shooters shoot, they’re going to lose most of the time.”

Vermont, led by Sandro Carissimo’s 14 points, suffered its second straight loss and was held to a season-low in points with Brenton serving as a defensive pest, putting forth his usual understated, uber-efficient game with 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals.

With four games remaining in the regular season, Brenton has acknowledged respect isn’t enough anymore. If his final season ends without a trip to the NCAA Tournament, it will be a failure. Still, he can’t look too far ahead.

“It’s definitely been a huge change over the past few years,” Brenton said of the program’s growth since his arrival, when the team had endured seven straight losing seasons. “It’s always good to stay in first place. We can’t let it slip up so we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”

A little less than three years ago, Stony Brook captured its first conference title on the same floor over the same opponent, the fans rushing the court and engulfing every inch of available hardwood. This time, fans walked out of the arena in an orderly fashion, looking forward to what still may come.

Their happiness only exceeded by expectation, no dream unreasonable.