With 1.7 seconds to play Friday night, Stony Brook trailed by one and inbounded the ball behind Seton Hall’s basket at the Prudential Center.
The final play would decide the mood of the crowd, the amount of sleep each team would get, but would not declare success or failure, and would not alter what had happened for nearly 40 minutes of a back-and-forth affair.
Two memos already had been sent.
To Seton Hall: Things aren’t going to get any easier.
To the America East Conference: The Seawolves have never looked better.
Stony Brook nearly shocked everyone outside of Suffolk County, but Seton Hall survived the sweat-inducing throwdown, 60-59, as Anthony Jackson’s game-winning attempt from the corner fell short as time expired.
“As a player, this is what you come to college for, to play in these big games, to compete with these big conference teams and we can compete with the best of them,” said Stony Brook guard Dave Coley.
One month after a tight battle at UConn, and one week after falling just short at Maryland, the Seawolves (8-4) lost despite 36 points from the backcourt of Coley and Jackson, while Seton Hall’s (11-2) solid late-game defense secured its sixth straight win before entering Big East play.
The Seawolves led 55-51 with 6:30 left, as Seton Hall shot 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) from the field in the second-half, but Brandon Mobley capped a 7-0 run with a 3-pointer to put the Pirates in front for good.
Though the Hall got just eight points from leading-scorer Fuquan Edwin and two points from guard Aaron Cosby, the Pirates rebounded from a 10-point deficit to take a 38-31 halftime lead behind Brian Oliver’s six 3-pointers and 20 points, all coming before the break. Oliver averaged 7.5 points coming in.
“Edwin and Cosby in my opinion are our two best scorers, so those two guys don’t play well and we win, I’m very happy with that,” Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said.
“I’ve been expecting that from Brian all year long. That’s not a surprise to me.”“I’ve been expecting that from Brian all year long. That’s not a surprise to me.”
In a rematch of last year’s NIT first round game, won 63-61 by Seton Hall, Stony Brook jumped out to an 18-8 lead, but the Pirates followed with an 11-0 run behind Oliver’s shooting showcase to take their first lead midway through the half.
Only in brand recognition did Stony Brook almost stun, but the physical gap between the schools came into play as Seton Hall big man Eugene Teague totaled 14 points and seven rebounds, while giving an on-court hazing to freshman Jameel Warney, who was held to five points on 2-of-10 shooting.
The Seawolves left frustrated, but only because they’ve reached the point where they expect more. Being good is no longer good enough.
“It’s a tough loss for us,” said Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell. “We expect to beat these teams. I think we were confident going into the game and we’ll move forward.”