March 6, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The #8 Stony Brook University men's basketball team will open up postseason play on Friday, March 7th, taking on the #9 Maine Black Bears in the opening round of the 2008 America East Tournament at the Events Center on the campus of Binghamton University. Game time is set for 7 p.m. The winner will take on top-seed UMBC in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at noon. The game can be heard on WLIR 107.1 FM and 90.1 Fm and at www.goseawolves.org.

Versus Maine: -Maine leads the all-time series 13-3 after the Seawolves swept the two meetings from the Black Bears this season. -In the first meeting at Stony Brook Arena on January 6, seniors Ricky Lucas and Mitchell Beauford combined for 39 points and freshman Jermol Paul added 12 as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with a 75-59 victory over the Black Bears. Beauford notched a team-high 21 for Stony Brook, going eight of 13 from the floor while adding three assists and three steals. Lucas, the Seawolves leading scorer, scored just 10 points in the previous two games combined but came up big, scoring 14 of his 18 in the first half. The America East Player of the Game, Beauford scored six of the Seawolves first 11 points as SBU shot out to an 11-3 lead just over four minutes into the contest. Maine countered with a 12-3 run over the next several minutes, taking the lead at 15-14 on a free throw from Kaimondre Owes. But Beauford answered with a three on Stony Brook's next possession to ignite a 13-2 run that gave the Seawolves a 10-point edge with 7:20 to go in the half. The Seawolves lead stood at 31-22 with just under four and half minutes remaining before Beauford and Lucas took over, combining for eight straight points to give the SBU its largest lead of the day at 38-22 with 2:44 to go in the half. Stony Brook maintained its lead from there to go into the break ahead 45-29, its largest halftime advantage of the season. Beauford finished the half with 15 points on six of eight shooting for the Seawolves who scored a season-high 45 points in the stanza on 51.4 percent shooting. SBU struggled offensively to begin the second half, scoring just three points over the first 7:46 of the stanza. The Black Bears could not take advantage though, cutting just four points off the lead in that span before the Seawolves took off on a 10-2 run to push its lead to 20. The Black Bears would not threaten again as the Seawolves coasted to its first win over the Black Bears in nine tries. Mark Socoby scored a game-high 27 points on seven of 10 shooting from beyond the arc for the Black Bears who turned it over 24 times and went just 11-for-20 from the free-throw line. Junior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif.) added eight points and 10 rebounds, his fourth straight game with double-digit boards for the Seawolves who turned it over just 11 times and shot 18-for-23 from the line. - In the teams second meeting, senior Mitchell Beauford hit the go-ahead free throw with 2:19 left as the Stony Brook men's basketball team rallied from an eight-point deficit in the final minutes on its way to a 56-51 victory over the Black Bears at Alfond Arena on Febuary 23rd. Maine pushed its lead to eight at 47-39 on a technical free throw but senior Ricky Lucas answered with five straight to make it 47-44. Freshman Chris Martin added a hoop to cut the deficit to a pair before Stony Brook grabbed the lead back on the ensuing possession on an old-fashioned three-point play from Beauford. Two free throws from Martin pushed the lead to three but the Black Bears still had a chance to tie with 32.6 seconds remaining after a Stony Brook turnover. The Black Bears cut the lead to one on a put-back from Brian Andere but were then assessed a technical foul after calling a timeout with none remaining. Lucas hit both freebies and Martin then hit one of two on the ensuing possession to make the lead four, sealing the game. Lucas led Stony Brook with 14 points, with Martin and Beauford adding 13 apiece for the Seawolves. Senior Emanuel Neto (Luanda, Angola) topped the Seawolves with six rebounds and four blocked shots. Mark Socoby led Maine with 14 points.

Postseason Tidbits: - The Seawolves will be looking for their first postseason victory since a 2005 America East Tournament victory over Hartford - SBU will be trying to defeat Maine for the third time this season; the last time a Stony Brook team accomplished that came in the 2004-05 season against Hartford. - Stony Brook lost its previous matchup against Maine in the America East tournament, a 78-54 loss to the Black Bears in the 2004 America East semifinals - The Seawolves advanced to the AE semifinals in 2004, the last time it was the eight seed; defeating UMBC in the opening round followed by an upset of top-seed Boston University in the quarterfinals. -Stony Brook is in the opening round game for the third straight season and is the eight seed for the first time since 2004.

Last Postseason Appearence: Bo Taylor hit a turnaround 12-foot jumper from the baseline as time expired and Hartford held Stony Brook without a field goal for the final 16:40 on March 2, rallying for a 49-47 victory over the Seawolves in the first-round of the 2007 America East Conference tournament. Hartford, which trailed by 20 in the first half and by 19 with 15:10 left, was down 44-27 with 12:38 remaining when it went on a 22-3 run the rest of the way. Taylor finished with six points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Hartford's Joe Zeglinski, who made the league's All-Rookie team, led all scorers with 23 points. Mike Popoko led Stony Brook with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Last Postseason Appearence vs. Maine: Kevin Reed and Udo Hadjisotirov each scored 17 points to lead Maine past Stony Brook 78-54 in the semifinals of the 2004 America East tournament. Reed pushed the Black Bears' lead to 46-30 with 12:40 left by scoring on three straight possessions, as he sandwiched a pair of layups around a three-pointer. No. 8 seed Stony Brook (10-20, 7-14), which shot 2-of-15 from three-point range, never got any closer. Cori Spencer led the Seawolves with 14 points, and Mitchell Beauford added 12 points. Leading scorer D.J. Munir scored six points on 3-of-16 shooting.