STONY BROOK, N.Y. – The host Stony Brook Seawolves had three players score in double figures, led by Anthony Jackson’s team-high 21 points, and the Seawolves out rebounded the Canisius College Golden Griffins by 15 en route to an 82-75 win Saturday afternoon in Pritchard Gymnasium. The win moved Stony Brook to 4-1 on the season, while the Griffs saw their record go to 3-1 on the year.
For Canisius, junior Billy Baron scored a game-high 22 points to go with five rebounds and five assists, while fellow junior Jordan Heath added 15 points, seven rebounds and a block in the loss. SeniorHarold Washington chipped in 14 points for the Blue and Gold, which shot 40 percent from the field, a season-low 26.9 percent from 3-point land and 76.9 percent from the free-throw line. Stony Brook only shot 39.7 percent from the field in the game and turned the ball over three more times than Canisius (13-10), but the Seawolves ended the game by holding a 47-32 advantage on the glass and Stony Brook was able to score 21 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds.
“Obviously, the numbers that jump out at you and are really the telltale sign of how things went today are the rebounding numbers and how many more they had than we had,” Canisius head coach Jim Baron said. “You play these kinds of games because we need to learn to win on the road. I think we need to get a bit more gritty and really work on getting the ball inside. We’re going to find things will open up for us offensively when we are getting the ball inside on a consistent basis.”
In a game that Canisius never led, Stony Brook jumped out to an early 11-2 lead 3:34 into the contest, with Jackson accounting for five of the Seawolves’ first 11 points. Canisius battled to get the game within one point at 13-12 with 12:38 left in the game when senior Freddy Asprilla powered to the bucket for two of his five points in his first game as a Griff. From there, Stony Brook pushed back and led by as many as nine midway through the first half before Baron hit back-to-back jumpers to send the Blue and Gold into the locker room down six at 36-30.
In the opening moments of the second half, Canisius trailed 41-34 before Washington kick-started a run for the Griffs by knocking down a 3-pointer from the left win to make it a four-point game at 41-37 with 16:46 left. After Stony Brook hit a pair of free-throws, Heath grabbed an offensive rebound off a Canisius miss and slammed it home to keep it a four-point game. The Griffs were able to get the lead down to just two points at 43-41 with 14:26 left, but an set of circumstances, and an eight-minute delay in the action, slowed the Griffs’ attack.
Prior to Baron’s two made free-throws, he was fouled while going to the basket. Before the play was completely blown dead, Jordan Heath jumped up and slammed the basketball through the hoop. One of the Stony Brook players appeared to take offense to Heath’s jam, and a scrum ensued under the Griffs’ basket. After reviewing video replay courtside, the officials decided to give each team a technical foul and to eject a Canisius player who left the bench area during the incident. Stony Brook was given two free-throws and the ball, that the Seawolves scored three points on their ensuing possession, three points that opened a 15-2 run that pushed the Stony Brook cushion from two to 15 points at 58-43 with 10:28 left in the game. The Griffs were able to chip away late, but Stony Brook was able to keep distance by going 13-for-15 from the charity stripe in the final 1:34 of regulation time.
Jameel Warney had 18 points and seven rebounds in the win for Stony Brook, which moved to 3-0 this year against MAAC schools, having also previously beat Marist and Rider this season. Tommy Brenton had nine points, a game-high 14 rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Seawolves, while Dave Coley chipped in 14 points and six rebounds. Canisius senior Alshwan Hymes came off the bench to score eight points for the Griffs and junior Reggie Groves added seven points and two assists in 22 minutes of action.
Canisius will return to action Nov. 29, when the team plays at UMBC in Baltimore. Game time between the Griffs and the Retrievers is set for 7 p.m.
Game Notes: This was the first all-time meeting between Canisius and Stony Brook in men’s basketball… Baron has scored 20 or more points in two of his first four games as a Griff… Baron went a career-best 10-for-11 from the free-throw line in the losing effort… Jordan Heath’s 15 points are a career high… Asprilla checked into the game in the first half and went 3-for-3 from the field to go with two rebounds and two steals… The Griffs had six turnovers in the game’s first eight minutes, but locked down the turnovers and gave the ball away just four times over the final 32 minutes of the contest… The game was moved from a 2 p.m., tipoff to a noon start to accommodate Stony Brook’s home NCAA Tournament football game… It was the earliest start time for the Blue and Gold since the 2010-11 season.
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