Feb. 5, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Brook men's basketball team will try to snap its seven-game losing streak on Wednesday night, traveling to take on the UMBC Retrievers at the RAC Arena. Game time is set for 7 p.m. The game can be heard on WLIR 107.1 FM. Fans can also follow Livestats of the game at www.umbcretrievers.com.

Last Time Out: Senior Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va.) scored a team-high 11 points but it wasn't enough as Brian Connelly led four Albany players in double-figures with 16 points as the Great Danes defeated the Stony Brook men's basketball team 64-46 on Saturday night at SEFCU Arena. SBU trailed just 11-8 nearly nine minutes in after two free throws by sophomore Rio Pitt. But UAlbany took off from there, scoring 16 unanswered points to take a 27-8 lead with 6:22 to go. Josh Martin hit two threes during the run as Albany held the Seawolves scoreless for nearly six minutes. A three from Lucas finally broke the drought but SBU still went into the half, down 34-15 and shooting 27.3 percent. The Seawolves came out of the gate strong in the second half, scoring six of the first eight points on hoops by Lucas, freshman Chris Martin and Pitt. An acrobatic lay-up from junior Demetrius Young and fastbreak lay-up from senior Mitchell Beauford a minute later closed the Seawolves to within 39-25 with just over 14:30 to go. Beauford hit two free throws with just over 10 minutes to go to keep the Seawolves within striking distance at 46-31 but Albany answered with five straight points and Stony Brook would get no closer than 16 the rest of the way as the Great Danes hit 15 of 21 free throws in the second half.

Series History: The Retrievers lead the series 6-5 after its 76-62 victory over the Seawolves earlier this season at Stony Brook Arena. Stony Brook picked up its first road conference victory since Feb. 12, 2005 last season at UMBC, a 56-39 triumph. The 39 points was the lowest output by a Stony Brook opponent since February 3, 2001 when Maritime tallied 38 points in the game.

Last meeting: Junior Nick Carter (Huntington Station, N.Y.) scored a game-high 18 points but Jay Greene led four Maryland-Baltimore County players in double-figures with 17 as the Retrievers defeated the Stony Brook men's basketball team 76-62 in the conference opener for both teams on January 3rd at Stony Brook Arena. Carter, the America East Co-Player of the game, knocked down three from long distance but received little support as the Seawolves shot just 33.3 percent for the game. Stony Brook once again won the battle of the backboards, 45-39, which included 23 offensive rebounds. Junior Demetrius Young (Sacramento, Calif.) led the effort on the glass with a team-high 12 rebounds, his third straight contest in double-digits. Carter hit two free throws with just over four minutes left to make it 30-19 but the Seawolves would get no closer the rest of the half as UMBC went into the break up 41-29. The Retrievers shot 53.1 percent from the field in the opening half including six of 12 from beyond the arc. UMBC maintained its double-digit lead in the opening ten minutes of the second half before SBU began to slowly crawl back in the game. A lay-up from senior Emanuel Neto (Luanda, Angola) cut the Retrievers lead to 52-39 with just over 10 minutes remaining to start a 6-0 spurt that was capped off by a Young tip-in which cut the Stony Brook deficit to nine and forced a UMBC timeout. The Retrievers came out of the timeout and got a shot for America East Co-Player of the Game Darryl Proctor who missed but then grabbed his own rebound and layed it in as UMBC scored eight of the next nine points to take a 60-44 lead with 5:24 left, essentially putting the game away. Proctor had a huge night, scoring 16 points and grabbing 16 boards. Brian Hodges added 14 for the Retrievers who shot 47.3 percent for the game.

Scouting the Retrievers: UMBC (15-7, 7-2) enters off their third straight victory, a 75-73 victory over second-place Vermont. The Retrievers currently sit in first-place in the America East as one of two teams in the league with an overall winning record. Jay Greene is tops in the conference with almost seven assists per game and leads an offense that tops the league in scoring offense (75.6) and three point field goal percentage (.400). Brian Hodges is fourth in the league, averaging 16.5 per points per game and is one of three Retrievers that rank in the top-10 in scoring in the America East. UMBC has been dominant at home, losing just one of its nine contests at the RAC Arena.

Game Notes: - The Seawolves had 10 steals on Saturday against Albany, the fourth time this season that Stony Brook has forced at least 10 steals.

- Stony Brook has struggled this season from the foul-line but that changed on Saturday against Albany. The Seawolves hit 12 of their 14 free throws (85.7 percent), their highest free throw percentage of the season.

-Freshman Chris Martin re-entered the starting lineup for the first time since Dec. 5 against Lehigh on Saturday against Albany, joining fellow freshman Jermol Paul who started for the second straight game. The starting five of Martin, Ricky Lucas, Demetrius Young, Paul and Emanuel Neto was the ninth different starting lineup head coach Steve Pikiell has used this season.