Feb. 18, 2009
Final Stats
STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Michael Tyree scored a career-high 25 points in his final home game to lead Stony Brook past the Boston University men's basketball team, 66-54, on Wednesday night at Pritchard Gymnasium. The Seawolves saw their 15-point lead in the first half shrink to one in the second but used strong defense in the final four minutes to improve to 15-12 and 7-7 in league play, while the Terriers suffer their third straight loss, falling to 14-12, 9-5 AE.
Tabbed BU's America East player of the game, John Holland had 19 points for the Terriers, while Matt Wolff recorded a game-high eight rebounds and tied a career-high in assists with seven. Scott Brittain had 10 points and seven boards, and Jake O'Brien had 11 points.
For SBU, Tyree tied his career best in the first half with 20 points off 8-of-10 attempts, including 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, before finishing 10-for-13 on Senior Night. Muhammad El-Amin and Demetrius Young had 11 and 10, points respectively, while both Young and Tommy Brenton posted a team-high seven rebounds.
The game went back and forth the first seven minutes with John Holland tying the game, 18-18, on a 3-pointer at the 13:03 mark after Tyree had already scored 11 points. The Seawolves then went on a 14-2 run capped by Young's layup at 5:55. O'Brien's trey cut the deficit to seven, 32-25, with 4:10 remaining, but SBU pulled ahead again to enter the locker room leading, 41-29.
The Seawolves finished the first half shooting a blistering 64.0 percent from the field off 16-of-25 attempts, including 7-for-9 from 3-point land. They also only committed six turnovers against BU's 10, as the Terriers hit 42.9 percent of their attempts (9-of-21).
Tyree drained his fifth 3-pointer to open the second half, but Holland hit one in response to spark the Terriers to a 15-1 run that cut the deficit to 1, 45-44, following an O'Brien layup at 13:18. Marques Johnson stole the ball on the next possession, but Tyree took it back and fed Young for a fastbreak slam dunk that brought the crowd to its feet. BU never got closer after that play.
The two teams traded baskets for the following seven minutes with Holland hitting a jumper off a feed from Wolff to keep BU close, 56-52, with 5:15 remaining in regulation. Young drained a trey for the Seawolves to push the lead back to seven at 4:51. O'Brien grabbed an offensive rebound and made his attempt under the basket to put the game at 59-54.
The Seawolves though stepped up their defensive presence and held the Terriers to 0-of-8 shooting during a 7-0 run to finish the game with their first win against BU since Jan. 18, 2007, a contest won in overtime at home, 68-62.
Both teams combined for 50 points in the second stanza after scoring 71 in the first. SBU only hit 7-of-18 attempts to finish 23-of-43 at 53.5 percent but hit 8-of-10 attempts from the charity stripe in the second half. Before the four minute mark, the Terriers were 10-of-21 from the field but ended the game 19-of-50, including 8-of-26 from beyond the arc. The squads each had 28 rebounds, and SBU had 15 turnovers to BU's 16.
Up next for the Terriers is a brief pause from conference action, as they host Iona in a ESPNU Bracketbusters pool game on Saturday at The Roof with tip-off set for 1 p.m. The two teams last faced off against each other during the 1981-82 season. The series is tied at two games apiece.
