Feb. 1, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Book men's basketball team will try to snap its six-game losing streak on Saturday night, beginning the second half of the conference season with a road contest against Albany. Game time is set for 7 p.m at SEFCU Arena. The game can be heard on WLIR 107.1 FM and WUSB 90.1 FM.

Last Time Out: Senior Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va.) scored all of his 22 points in the second half but it wasn't enough as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point second half deficit but came up short late, falling to New Hampshire 68-60 on Wednesday night at Stony Brook Arena. UNH grabbed its largest lead of the game at 58-44 on a Mike Christensen jumper with 6:11 left but sophomore Eddie Castellanos (Jersey City, N.J.) answered with a runner in the lane to kick start a 14-2 Seawolves run over the next five minutes. A long three over two defenders by junior Michael Tyree (Somerset, N.J.) capped the SBU run and cut the UNH lead to two at 60-58 with 1:44 remaining. New Hampshire turned the ball over on its ensuing possession and Tyree grabbed the loose ball but Christensen just got a piece of his lay-up attempt, deflecting it to Tyrece Gibbs who got it to Christensen who was then fouled by freshman Jermol Paul (Palm Beach, Fla.). Gilchrese hit one of his two free throws to push the lead to three and the Seawolves then turned it over on their next possession leading to two Gilchrese made free throws that pushed the Wildcats lead back to five and Stony Brook did not threaten again. The America East Co-Player of the Game, Lucas went six of 12 from the field including three from long distance in the second half for the Seawolves who shot 35.3 percent from the field for the game. UNH shot 44 percent from the field including eight three-pointers and were led by Christensen, the America East Co-Player of Game, who scored a game-high 25 points.

Series History: Albany leads the all-time series 31-14 and has won the last six meetings between the schools. Stony Brook has not won at SEFCU Arena since an 81-74 double overtime victory on Feb. 18, 2004.

Scouting the Great Danes: The Great Danes (9-11, 4-4) enter the second half of its conference schedule off back-to-back losses to Maine and UMBC. Albany fell to the Retrievers, 69-65, its last time out despite 19 points from Brian Lillis who is fifth in league in scoring at 16.4 per game. The Great Danes are 5-3 at home this season, but just 1-3 in conference play. UAlbany has held its own on the boards this season, leading the conference in rebound margin (+7.2) and defensive rebounds per game (24.95).

Last Meeting: Brian Lillis scored 19 points to lead five Albany players in double-figures as the Great Danes built an 21-point halftime lead and then held on late for a 80-64 victory over the Stony Brook University men's basketball team on January 9th at Stony Brook Arena. Senior Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va.) led the Seawolves with 15 points, 13 of which came in the second half. Junior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif.) added 10 points and senior Emanuel Neto (Luanda, Angola) tallied eight points and 13 rebounds for the Stony Brook who shot 41 percent from the field. The Great Danes took control of the game with a 22-6 first half run that gave them their largest lead of the game at 42-18. SBU would cut the lead to 12 midway through the second half but UAlbany answered with a 11-2 run to effectively put the game away. Lillis went nine for 14 from the line for the Great Danes who also got 18 from Brent Wilson as well as 11 points and nine rebounds from Jerei Hasting.

Game Notes: - Senior Ricky Lucas scored all of his 22 points in the second half on Wednesday against New Hampshire after scoring 22 of his career-high 33 points in the second half of the Seawolves previous contest at Hartford. In those two halfs combined Lucas has gone 11 of 19 from the field, 7-for-11 from three-point lead and 15 of 16 from the free-throw line.

- Freshman Jermol Paul got the starting nod from head coach Steve Pikiell on Wednesday night against New Hampshire for the first time since the fourth game of the season against American. Paul responded with nine points and four rebounds in 11 first-half minutes before being forced to the bench after picking up his third foul.

-The Seawolves collected 13 offensive rebounds against New Hampshire, almost right on their average of 13.7 which leads the America East. Albany is second in that category, averaging 12.55 offensive boards per game. Junior forward Demetrius Young has led the way on the offensive glass for the Seawolves with a conference best 62.

-SBU forced 20 turnovers against the Wildcats on Wednesday, the sixth time this season that the Seawolves have forced an opponent into 20 or more turnovers.