Stony Brook used a 9-0 run in the final minutes to distance themselves from Fairleigh Dickinson, after a lead as large as 17 in the second half closed to three, and beat the Knights 77-62 at Pritchard Gymnasium Wednesday night. Continue reading “Stony Brook 77, Fairleigh Dickinson 62”
St. Francis (Brooklyn) head coach Glenn Braica said that his team had encountered a delay in reaching Stony Brook’s campus, as their bus was running an hour late, he reached out to the opposing coach on the morning of the game.
“I called him this morning, our bus was an hour late and not many guys would do this, he called me back,” Braica said. “I didn’t leave a message, he called me back, not many guys would do that and then he offered to wait and play the game a little bit later, which we didn’t do, but I thought that was a class act on his part. The guy’s a great coach, but also an even better human being.”
“Maybe I helped him, we have to start having bus issues,” Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. “He called me and said he didn’t know if that would have to happen. We would always work with him, we do things like that, but he didn’t need it.”
Starting on time at 2pm, Stony Brook lost at home for the second time in 30 games to St. Francis (Brooklyn), both games being decided by a margin of two points. After falling to Sacred Heart 64-62 last season at home, Stony Brook never lost a game at Pritchard Gymnasium until Sunday’s loss to the Terriers.
With new rules regarding blocks, charges and encouraging scoring with increased hand checking fouls – Stony Brook’s trademark defense has taken a back seat on most nights to their offense. Last season the Seawolves held teams to under 60 points in 20 of their games, this season they have held just Marist to under that number. Twice this season the Seawolves have given up over 100 points.
“We can score, I’m not at all concerned about that as we continue to grow we’ll be better,” Pikiell said. “Jameel [Warney], had 30 points the other night, didn’t factor into the game tonight and we still scored points. Tre can score, AJ can score, Dave can score, Scott King can score, he didn’t play tonight for defensive reasons now. Ray McGrew gets 12 and he doesn’t know what he’s doing yet.”
“We’ll keep getting guys better and our defense will get better. One thing we’ve always done here is we’ve defended and I don’t like giving up 70 to St. Francis (Brooklyn), that’s not what I want to do.”
Pikiell said that the new rules have had an impact on how they have had to adjust playing through eight games this season. Warney and senior Eric McAlister were forced into early foul trouble. McAlister, who normally draws the other team’s best post player, was relegated to a season-low 22 minutes and has fouled out of three of the team’s eight games this season.
“Our best players are on the bench a lot more than they were last year,” Pikiell said. “We have to learn to play amongst the new rules.”
Carson Puriefoy led the Seawolves with 17 points off the bench, it is not the first time the sophomore has been an impact player off the bench. He led Stony Brook with 22 points in their 90-74 loss at Indiana and has seen his playing time increase.
“When I come in I’m just there to bring energy off the bench, help my teammates out, get assists and score when I need to,” Puriefoy said. “I’m not really focused on being a go to scorer, I’m just here to help my teammates.”
Pikiell said that Puriefoy is the guard he turns to first off the bench, when either senior Dave Coley or Anthony Jackson need to come out Puriefoy can play point guard and either Coley or Jackson shift to shooting guard.
“He’s a starter, when you play starter minutes, we have six starters and you can only start five of them with the way they’re blowing the whistle,” Pikiell said. “I like having a guy on the bench who is in the back court because it’s a dangerous world you’re living in now, so you need to have a guard coming off the bench that’s a good player. He’s filling that role now. He’s a starter, he’s going to play starter minutes and he’s started talent-wise.”
Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and America East conference for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
St. Francis (Brooklyn) needed a drive to the basket for a game clinching bucket in the final minute Sunday to escape with their fifth road win in less than a month of the season.
Sheldon Hagigal drove the lane for a layup that would not go off the glass, but Wayne Martin was there to tip in the miss inches away from the rim to give the Terriers a 70-68 lead with 1.5 seconds remaining.
“One of our seniors on the team Ben [Mockford] told me that plays like this, ‘we’re going to drive to the basket and look for the tip in because it’s always going to be there,'” Martin said. “That’s exactly what happened.”
Off a Stony Brook timeout, Carson Puriefoy’s desperation heave from just inside half court hit the backboard, the rim and rattled out. Puriefoy, who led the Seawolves with 17 off the bench, said he thought it was good off his hands.
“I thought for once in my career, that we were going to get that bank and go in,” Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. “It looked good and that’s a good look.”
Jalen Cannon led all scorers with game-highs of 23 points and eight rebounds and made three three-pointers, none more important than a three with 39.3 seconds left to give St. Francis (Brooklyn) a 68-66 lead.
“I’ve been shooting a lot of three’s lately, but I wasn’t as comfortable coming into this game, but our coaching staff told me to stick with it,” Cannon said. “After I hit my first one, I got a little comfortable.”
His three-pointer from the right wing with three seconds left in the first half to give the Terriers a 36-28 lead. Cannon continued to trouble the Seawolves – creating off the dribble and his transition drive to the basket gave Jameel Warney his third foul three and a half minutes into the second half. The next possession Cannon drew Eric McAlister in the air for his third foul and his free throws gave St. Francis (Brooklyn) their largest lead at 46-37 with 16:02 left.
Cannon and Martin combined for 35 of the team’s 70 points, with Martin pitching in 12 points and three rebounds off the bench in 22 minutes.
“They have a good feel offensively,” St. Francis (Brooklyn) head coach Glenn Braica said. “It’s nothing I’m teaching them, they were born with it. They know when to pass the ball and know when to try and attack and I thought they did pretty well with that.”
In a game with a combined 56 fouls, the Seawolves struggled after Warney exited with two fouls in less than four minutes of first half game action. The sophomore scored season-low five points and grabbed five rebounds.
“It was just hard to get into a flow after sitting out 14 minutes of the first half,” Warney said. “St. Francis is a good defensive team and they surrounded me a lot, but there’s more, both me not getting in the flow and great defense.”
The Terriers have won road games at Miami (Florida), Florida Atlantic and at Coastal Carolina and a neutral-site game against Oakland prior to today, and hit the road one more time to Army before playing four straight home games.
“I almost feel more comfortable on the road,” Braica said. “We’re on the road so much we didn’t feel comfortable last week playing a Division III team, I feel more comfortable on the road now.”
Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and America East conference for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
It’s Thanksgiving so let’s talk about fowls. Oops, wrong homonym, but you get the point. All anyone wants to talk about this season are fouls. There are oodles and oodles more of them this season. (Yup, that’s actually true.)
When former Stony Brook athletic director Jim Fiore was bought out by the university it raised more questions than answers. espnW’s Kate Fagan attempted to answer some of them with her story citing multiple sources inside of the SBU athletic department. Continue reading “espnW Sheds More Light On Fiore’s Departure From Stony Brook”
The rise of the multi-team event sure makes this time of year much more fun for college basketball fans. Many of our local teams were playing in far-flung outposts for titles that really only matter to the schools that are competing for them. (One power conference school was hanging here at home and barely beating Monmouth.) It was a productive week around New York City and thus we present our weekly area awards. Continue reading “Big Apple Buckets Weekly Awards – Nov. 25”
Three days ago we took a guess at what the New York City teams were going to do during their holiday tournaments. Let’s take a look back and see how those weekends went and what we got right and wrong. Continue reading “How Did NYC Teams Do In Their Tournaments?”
It’s tournament time! While ostensibly LIU Brooklyn, Stony Brook, Hofstra, St. Francis Brooklyn and Columbia have been playing in “tournaments” over the early part of the season they haven’t really had that feel. Instead it’s been a series of tough road games. Continue reading “What to Expect From NYC Teams In Tournaments”
On Tuesday, Stony Brook University president Samuel L. Stanley announced that athletic director Jim Fiore would be leaving the school effective immediately.
“I am writing to inform you that Jim Fiore is leaving Stony Brook University,” Stanley said in a statement released Tuesday. “Senior Associate Athletic Director, Donna Woodruff, will serve as Interim Athletic Director as we commence a national search to identify a new Athletic Director.”
Michael Conte, a representative for Jim Fiore, said that his client was notified at about 5pm on Tuesday of the University’s decision. In a statement, Fiore said that the school had “bought out” his contract, in which they will be paying him “nearly $800,000” in total salary until June 30, 2016.
“I have had nearly 11 wonderful years at Stony Brook and I am incredibly proud for all of the experiences I have had in building the University and our emerging Division 1 program,” Fiore said in a statement. “Facilities have been modernized, recruiting has been professionalized, and prospective student-athletes now see Stony Brook as an enviable destination and the University’s brand is nationally recognized.”
Fiore helped oversee the $21.1 million renovation of Stony Brook’s arena, which is set to open during the 2014-15 school year. The Seawolves have made the second round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, the College World Series as well as having their men’s basketball team win three out of the last four regular season championships.
It remains to be seen how this will effect men’s basketball head coach Steve Pikiell, who signed a contract extension until the 2017-18 season with the school over the summer, after setting a new school record in victories last season with 25 and leading the Seawolves to an NIT victory over Massachusetts.
Ryan Restivo covers the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and America East conference for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell built his 2014 recruiting class throughout the summer.
That class of three, who all made verbal commitments to the Seawolves over the summer months, all officially signed National Letters of Intent on November 13 to join the program for the 2014-15 season.
Point guard Deshaun Thrower, small forward Bryan Sekunda and power forward Tyrell Sturdivant signed Wednesday to complete Pikiell’s 2014 class of three scholarships.
“We’re excited,” Pikiell said. “We added three new players today to the program. It was a great day for us.”
Thrower, rated the second-best point guard in the state of Michigan, averaged 18 points per game last season at Muskegon high school. The six-foot one inch 195 pound point guard is also the quarterback for his team and has accounted for 2,545 yards of total offense and 36 touchdowns between passing and rushing.
“He plays like a football player, which I’m really excited about,” Pikiell said of Thrower on the basketball court. Pikiell said he has seen Thrower play football and he said he told Thrower after a game that he would like to see him take fewer hits by sliding or going out of bounds.
“I’d like to see him run out of bounds,” Pikiell said. “He’s one of those quarterbacks that never stops moving his feet. I told him, ‘My man, you have to start running out of bounds or taking that slide.’ He’s not one of those guys.”
State College high school commit Sekunda will be a future wing player whose father, Glenn, played basketball at Syracuse and Penn State as well as a pro career in Europe for over a decade.
“Bryan Sekunda can really shoot the ball,” Pikiell said. “He’s a three point shooter with a good IQ and great DNA. His father played 12 years in Europe. He’s a really good player.”
Pikiell said that power forward Tyrell Sturdivant profiles as a “multi-purpose forward” who can step out and make jump shots as well as show a solid post up game.
“He’s got a great body,” Pikiell said. “I’m excited. His upside is very good, but a skilled forward for us, multi-skilled, being able to put the ball on the deck.”
While the caliber of player has improved over Pikiell’s tenure, he said that he feels his recruiting has adjusted as well with the program’s improvement.
“I’m huge into kids that want to be here,” Pikiell said in the preseason. “When I first got the job I was trying to talk kids into coming and they thought they were doing me a favor. Now I want a kid that wants to be here.”
Stony Brook continues development on their arena, set to open in 2014, after a $21.1 million renovation. As part of their pitch, Pikiell said he walks his recruits into the arena that will soon be the Seawolves home.
“I used to sell a vision of what we can be as a program and now I’m able to sell results,” Pikiell said. We win league championships now. We play in postseason. We have the best arena in the league ready to open, so my pitch has changed tremendously to speculating what could happen to what is happening now at our program.”
Ryan Restivo covers the America East for Big Apple Buckets. You can follow Ryan on Twitter @ryanarestivo or contact Ryan at rrestivo[at]nycbuckets.com.
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