Stony Brook Again Rallies From Late Deficit, Defeating Delaware for 10th Win

STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Down 68-67 with under 90 seconds to play, the Stony Brook men's basketball team remained unphased after its 11-point lead evaporated at the hands of the hot-shooting Delaware Blue Hens. The Seawolves received a go-ahead three from freshman Miles Latimer (Fairfax, Va.) and clutch free throws down the stretch to score the game's final seven points and secure the team's 10th win of the season in a 74-68 victory at Island Federal Arena on Sunday afternoon. Latimer finished the day with 14 points, but redshirt-junior Akwasi Yeboah (Chigwell, England) was at it again, scoring 25 points to lead all players in the victory. He had 16 at the halftime break, nine of which came in a 64-second span, to give Stony Brook the lead. BOALS' REACTION "We knew this was going to be a tough game. They are a very good team. We had a lot of respect for what they have done to this point. We did a really good job of following our game plan. Once again our guys were resilient. They bent but didn't break and made a lot of game-winning plays. I'm really proud of our guys." HIGHLIGHTS - After surrendering five of the first seven points, Delaware answered with a 7-0 run to take an early 9-5 advantage. - Stony Brook responded with a 10-4 run of its own, ended with one of Yeboah's three consecutive threes. Sophomore Jeff Otchere (Bronx, N.Y.) also hit a shot off the backboard to get on the scoreboard. - The Seawolves' lead grew as big as nine in the first half as Latimer hit a three with 2:55 left to take a 33-24 lead, but the Blue Hens responded. - Delaware scored six of the final eight points to cut Stony Brook's halftime lead to five. - A basket plus the foul for sophomore Elijah Olaniyi (Newark, N.J.) gave Stony Brook an eight-point lead at 43-35 inside the first three minutes of the second half. - Yeboah's three made it an 11-point advantage with 14:06 to go at 54-43, but Delaware got hot from the outside, hitting five of its next six threes to come back and tie it. - Matt Veretto's three was the last of the scoring for the Blue Hens, giving Delaware a 68-67 lead with 1:24 left. Stony Brook scored the final seven points after that, with Latimer responsible for five of them. NOTES - The Seawolves improved to 10-2 on the season and 4-0 at Island Federal Arena. - Yeboah is now averaging 24.3 points per game in his last four after a 25-point outing against Delaware. - Senior guard Jaron Cornish (Abaco, Bahamas) scored 10 of his 12 in the second half, leading to his fourth double-figure scoring game of the season. - Olaniyi also finished the night with 12 points, shooting 5-for-11 from the field. He's shooting an even 11-for-22 in his last two outings. - Otchere matched his career-high with four blocks tonight and grabbed 10 rebounds for the second time this season. He also blocked four shots against Holy Cross. - Stony Brook's 11 threes are the most by the Seawolves this season, eclipsing the 10 they hit against South Carolina. - The Seawolves have now assisted on 38 made baskets in the team's last three games. - Coach Boals' club has now pulled off victories in back to back games when trailing with two minutes to go. On the season, they have three such wins. UP NEXT The Battle for Long Island is next, as Stony Brook welcomes Hofstra to Island Federal Arena for a 7 p.m. tip-off Wednesday night.