Seton Hall University
Stony Brook
MBB Edges Stony Brook, 60-59
12/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
With the win, the Pirates improved to 11-2 on the season and 8-0 at home. Seton Hall is now unbeaten in its last 15 non-conference home games and boasts a 19-2 mark against out-of-conference foes in three years under head coach Kevin Willard.
Redshirt junior Brian Oliver (Glassboro, N.J.) erupted for a team-high 20 points and added four rebounds while classmate Gene Teague (Vineland, N.J.) delivered 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in a well-rounded effort. Sophomore Brandon Mobley (Savannah, Ga.) notched his team-leading fourth double-double of the season, scoring 12 points and snatching a game-high 10 boards.
Stony Brook junior Dave Coley scored nine early points, helping the Seawolves open an 18-8 advantage that prompted a Seton Hall timeout with 14:27 remaining before halftime. Immediately following the timeout, Oliver provided impetus for the SHU offense, netting eight unanswered points to bring the Pirates within two at the 13:05 mark. One minute later, Teague bullied his way to the rack for a layup that gave The Hall its first lead of the game at 19-18, capping an 11-0 run for the home team.
Following two straight buckets from SBU's Anthony Jackson that gave Stony Brook a 27-23 advantage, Oliver carried the Pirates into the half with one of the more impressive shooting displays to this point in the season. The Glassboro product and Georgia Tech transfer found his much-touted shooting touch in the final five minutes of the period, converting on three consecutive shots from way downtown to help SHU build a 35-29 lead. Two of the long range connections were assisted by Tom Maayan (Galil, Israel), who subsequently added a three-pointer of his own and Seton Hall went into the locker room with a 38-31 edge.
Oliver set a new season-high with 20 points in the first half alone and matched his career-high with six made three pointers on eight attempts.
Mobley opened the scoring in the second frame with a fastbreak flush, pushing the score to 40-31 and matching the Pirates' largest lead of the night. The Seawolves responded with a run of their own, putting together a 22-8 stretch that was fueled by 10 points from Coley to move ahead 53-48 with 9:14 to play. Mobley scored the next five points for SHU, opening the door for Teague to knot the score at 55-55 with a pair of free throws at the 5:24 mark. The Savannah native then connected on a three-pointer from the corner just in front of the Seton Hall bench, putting the Pirates ahead for good.
Two possessions later, junior Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) sank a clutch jumper in the lane to push the lead to 60-57, but after an Anthony Mayo dunk and two defensive stops, Stony Brook had possession and a chance to win in the final seconds.
In a scene reminiscent of the previous meeting between the two squads, Seton Hall came up with the stop in needed to come away with the win. The Pirates twice knocked the ball over the touchline as the clock ticked down, forcing Stony Brook into a contested jumper that missed the mark at the buzzer.
In the first round of the 2012 National Invitation Tournament, the Pirates denied SBU on their final possession to capture a 63-61 victory that snapped an 11-game losing streak for The Hall in the NIT.
Edwin scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds, becoming the 47th Pirate to surpass the 900-point mark in the process.
Coley finished with a game-high 21 points for Stony Brook (8-4) who entered the night with an NCAA-leading five true road wins to this point in the year.
Next up for the Pirates is a two-game road swing to start BIG EAST play. SHU will head to DePaul to take on the Blue Demons on Wed., January 2 at 9:00 p.m., before traveling to square off against Notre Dame on Saturday, January 5 at Noon.
