West Hartford, Conn. - Chris Martin had 15 points to pace four players in double figures in leading Stony Brook to a 68-59 victory over UAlbany in the quarterfinal round of the America East Conference Tournament on Saturday, March 6 at the University of Hartford's Chase Family Arena.
Stony Brook (22-8), the tournament's top seed after winning the regular-season title, advanced to Sunday's semifinal round for the first time in the program's history. The Great Danes, who were held to 33.3-percent shooting, ended their season with a 7-25 record.
After UAlbany's Mike Black canned a three-point field goal to tie the contest at 36 piece, the Seawolves pulled away with nine of the game's next 11 points. Tommy Brenton, who totaled 13 points and 16 rebounds, hit a slam dunk after his steal, before Muhammad El-Amin converted a curl move in the lane. El-Amin, the conference's player of the year, later scored off an offensive rebound and Bryan Dougher drilled a three-pointer from the left corner for a 45-38 lead.
The Seawolves, who have never been seeded higher than fourth for this championship tournament, were still ahead, 49-43, but then used a 10-2 run to seize complete control. Brenton, a 6-foot-5 sophomore, made a layup and three foul shots to ignite the stretch. Dougher, an all-conference guard who had 12 points, hit a reverse layup with an offense rebound and nailed a 3-point shot to give his club a 59-45 margin with 4:47 remaining.
"They made all the effort and hustle plays and got their hands on all the loose balls," said UAlbany coach Will Brown, whose team went more than 10 minutes without a field during the second half. "We gave ourselves a chance to win the game, but we just didn't get it done."
In the first half, UAlbany reversed an early deficit with seven straight points. Will Harris, who had 12 of his 15 points before the break and grabbed seven rebounds, made a 3-pointer from left of the key in transition to put his team ahead. The Great Danes pushed their advantage to 18-12 when Logan Aronhalt sank two free throws following his steal at mid-court.
The Seawolves turned up their defensive pressure and held UAlbany scoreless for six-plus minutes. During that stretch, SBU went on a 13-2 run. Martin, a junior guard, made two foul shots as his team went in front and sank two more from the lien for a 25-20 lead. Aronhalt, a redshirt freshman who netted 16 points, kept his team within striking distance by making a three-pointer and following his own missed free throw in the final minutes of period.
"I thought we were going to win the game, but they persevered and toughed it out," said Harris, one of three seniors playing in his final game as a collegian. "It was a physical game. Tommy Brenton is a force on the glass and fights for everything."
El-Amin was the fourth SBU player in double figures with 12. The Seawolves, who are guaranteed an NIT berth as the America East regular-season champion, have won 11 of their last 12 contests. Freshman guard Mike Black scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime for the Great Danes, who ended the year by losing 12 of their last 13.
"Every game we have a different guy step up," explained Stony Brook's Steve Pikiell, the conference coach of the year. "One day (Muhammad El-Amin) is off and Chris Martin scores 15 points and gets to the foul line. It's how we've been all year long. They play very unselfish, and that's why we're a good basketball team."
Paw Prints: UAlbany was the No. 8 seed for the America East Conference Tournament ... the Great Danes had reached the conference tournament's semifinal round in three of the last four years ... Mike Black, who was named to the league's all-rookie team, scored in double figures for the 11th time this season ... Black's 17 points were one off his career-high total ... seniors Will Harris, Scotty McRae and Brett Gifford each played in his last game at the collegiate level ... Gifford, a 6-foot-11 center, appeared in 121 career games and was a member of the 2007 conference championship team as a freshman.
Stony Brook 68, UAlbany 59 (03/06/10 at Chase Arena, West Hartford, Conn., America East Quarterfinal)
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
ALBANY vs SBU
03/06/10 12 p.m. at Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion
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VISITORS: ALBANY 7-25, 2-14 AE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Aronhalt, Logan..... * 4-14 3-8 5-6 3 3 6 2 16 2 1 0 1 31
03 Harris, Will........ * 6-16 3-7 0-0 4 3 7 2 15 2 2 0 1 35
10 Black, Mike......... * 6-12 2-5 3-4 0 0 0 5 17 1 4 0 0 24
12 McRae, Scotty....... * 0-5 0-1 0-1 1 3 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 23
54 Gifford, Brett...... * 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 3 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 12
04 Urli, Fran.......... 0-3 0-0 2-2 0 1 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 17
05 Tartt, Derrek....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 6
21 Metcalf, Blake...... 1-4 0-0 0-0 3 6 9 3 2 0 1 2 0 25
23 Ambrose, Tim........ 3-5 1-2 0-0 1 6 7 5 7 2 2 0 0 23
33 Allen, Billy........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 4
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 20-60 9-23 10-13 15 27 42 28 59 8 12 2 2 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-27 37.0% 2nd Half: 10-33 30.3% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-8 37.5% 2nd Half: 6-15 40.0% Game: 39.1% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 76.9% 2
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HOME TEAM: SBU 22-8, 13-3 AE
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
10 DOUGHER, Bryan...... * 5-13 2-8 0-1 1 2 3 2 12 0 1 0 1 34
23 JOYNER, Dallis...... * 4-8 0-0 1-3 3 4 7 2 9 0 1 1 0 29
24 BRENTON, Tommy...... * 3-4 0-0 7-9 7 9 16 2 13 3 1 1 1 33
30 MARTIN, Chris....... * 1-9 1-1 12-15 2 5 7 1 15 1 0 0 1 28
35 EL-AMIN, Muhammad... * 5-16 0-1 2-4 1 1 2 2 12 3 2 1 3 33
01 PREBOYE, Preye...... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 7
02 CARTER, Danny....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 7
11 ROUSE, Marcus....... 1-5 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 12
12 CASTELLANOS, Eddie.. 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6
32 GOBA, Andrew........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 11
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 21-58 4-12 22-34 18 26 44 15 68 9 6 4 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 11-29 37.9% Game: 36.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 3-7 42.9% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-13 76.9% 2nd Half: 12-21 57.1% Game: 64.7% 5
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Officials: Jeffry Bryant, Michael Pilla, Jeff Nichols
Technical fouls: ALBANY-None. SBU-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
ALBANY........................ 28 31 - 59
SBU........................... 31 37 - 68
2010 America East Men's and Women's Championship presented by Newman's Own
Quarterfinal 1 - winner advances to face winner of #4 Boston University vs.
#5 Hartford
