University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
6-7, 0-1AE
Stony Brook University
9-6, 1-0AE
Men's Hoops Drops America East Opener to Stony Brook, 71-61
1/3/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Sophomore guard Daniel Dion (Cedar Park, Texas) recorded 19 points, with a career-high five threes, off the bench as the University of New Hampshire men's basketball team fell to Stony Brook University at Island FCU Arena, 71-61, Saturday afternoon to open up America East play.
UNH falls to 6-7 on the season while Stony Brook improves to 9-6 overall.
Tanner Leissner (Converse, Texas) was the other double-digit scorer for the Wildcats with 13 points (5 of 8) and corralled a team-leading six rebounds. Matt Miller (Arnold, Md) notched eight with two 3-pointers.
Jameel Warney led the way for the Seawolves with 22 points (8-for-14) and 10 rebounds. Rayshaun McGrew and Carson Puriefoy rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 and 12 respectively. McGrew pulled down 12 boards as well.
This was the second consecutive game UNH held an opponent to under 24 percent from beyond the arc, after holding Western Michigan University to 23.1 percent. Stony Brook shot 22.2 percent on the night. The Seawolves dominated the paint outscoring UNH 30-12.
UNH's bench continued its scoring ways, recording 32 points to SBU's 16. UNH shot 47.8 percent from three-point land. The 'Cats shot 63.6 percent (14-22) from the line in the game.
Stony Brook jumped out to a quick 8-1 lead just 3:36 into the contest. Warney scored the first six points for the Seawolves in the run.
A 3-pointer by Dion ended the stretch, but Stony Brook hit three straight buckets to pull ahead 15-4 with just over 13:30 to play in the first half.
Down 17-9, Frank Okeke (DeSoto, Texas) nailed a three, and shortly after Tommy McDonnell (Durham, N.H.) scored on a backdoor play to cut the deficit to three, 17-14, with 9:24 showing on the clock.
Miller hit a 3-pointer to narrow the score to one, 21-20 with 5:01 to play in the half. Two Miller free throws closed out the scoring for the 'Cats as the Seawolves got a bucket and two free throws of their own from Deshaun Thrower. Stony Brook held a 25-22 lead at the break.
Leissner recorded seven points to open the second half, in about a minute and a half, to help the Wildcats gain their first lead of the game, 31-29.
Dion recorded a trey of his own on the next possession to extend the lead to 34-29, the largest lead of the afternoon for UNH, with 17:21 left to play.
New Hampshire and Stony Brook traded baskets for the remainder of the contest as there were four lead changes in the second stanza.
Down five, 48-43, with just over 10 minutes to play, Jacoby Armstrong (Sachse, Texas) completed a 3-point play on a driving layup in which he was fouled, to narrow the deficit to two.
To wrap up the afternoon, the Seawolves rattled off six straight points, four freebies from Puriefoy, to extend their lead to 71-61 at the buzzer.
Up Next, UNH returns home to continue conference play against the University at Albany on Tuesday, Jan. 6 (7 p.m.).
To purchase tickets for upcoming games visit UNHWildcats.com/tickets or call (603) 862-4000. For the latest news and information on the UNH men's basketball program, check out UNHWildcats.com.
