Feb. 16, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Book men's basketball team wraps up a two-game homestand on Sunday afternoon, taking on the Vermont Catamounts at Stony Brook Arena. Game time is set for 2 p.m. The game can be heard on WLIR 107.1 FM and WUSB 90.1 FM. Fans can also follow Livestats of the game at www.goseawolves.org.

Last Time Out: Trailing by two with eight seconds remaining, junior Michael Tyree's (Somerset, N.J.) three-pointer was just off the mark as the Stony Brook men's basketball team rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit but fell short, losing to the Hartford Hawks 53-51 on Thursday night at Stony Brook Arena. The Seawolves trailed 48-40 with just under eight minutes remaining but held the Hawks to just three points over the next 7:41, cutting their deficit to two at 51-49 on a jumper from Tyree with 38 seconds remaining. Morgan Sabia missed the front end of a one-and-one with 29 seconds left on the Hawks ensuing possession, giving SBU the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. Stony Brook worked the ball around to Tyree who just missed on a three-point attempt from the right side. Warren McLendon corralled the rebound and made two free throws on the other end with five seconds remaining to ice the game. Tyree, the America East Co-Player of the Game, led the Seawolves with 13 points while senior Emanuel Neto (Luanda, Angola) added 12 points and seven rebounds. Zeglinski was named America East Co-Player of the Game for Hartford, scoring a game-high 18 points.

Series History: Vermont has won 13 of the teams 14 meetings including a 71-61 Catamount victory at Stony Brook Arena last season. The Seawolves lone win over UVM came at Stony Brook Arena on Jan. 5, 2006, a 61-58 triumph.

Last meeting: Junior Michael Tyree (Somerset, N.J.) scored a career-high 20 points including four of five from three but it wasn't enough as Vermont shot 48 percent from the field on its way to a 72-62 victory over the Stony Brook University men's basketball team on Jan. 21 at Patrick Gym. The Catamounts led right from the start, going on a 9-0 run after a three from Tyree had cut the Seawolves deficit to 8-7. Nick Vier answered with the first of three straight three-pointers for the Catamounts to make it 17-7 UVM and forced the Seawolves to call time. Stony Brook came right back though, scoring nine straight points including five from Tyree to cut the Vermont lead to one. Evan Fjelt scored on the ensuing Catamounts possession and Mike Trimboli turned a SBU turnover into a lay-up to push the lead back to five. The lead ballooned to eight at 32-24 on two free thows from Marqus Blakely before Tyree answered with another three to cut the deficit to five. An acrobatic lay-up from Trimboli just before the break gave the Catamounts a six-point lead heading into the locker room. Tyree led the Seawolves with 13 on five of six shooting including three of three from long distance. Trimboli had a team-high 11 for the Catamounts who shot 52 percent in the opening half. Colin McIntosh kick started the Catamount attack to start the second half, scoring UVM's first seven points to push Vermont's lead to 10. The UVM lead would get as high as 13 but the Seawolves continued to hang around, cutting the lead to six at 59-53 with 2:59 to go on two free throws from junior Nick Carter (Huntington, N.Y.). On the ensuing possession the Catamounts broke the Seawolves pressure, leading to a put-back lay-up from Marqus Blakeley that pushed the SBU deficit to eight and the Stony Brook would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as Vermont went nine of 12 from the line over the last two and a half minutes. Trimboli scored a game-high 22 points for the Catamounts who were harassed into 23 turnovers by the Seawolves. Senior Emanuel Neto (Luanda, Angola) tallied 13 rebounds in the game which featured 47 fouls and 51 free throws between the two teams.

Scouting the Catamounts: Vermont (12-12, 7-5) comes into the game off a heartbreaking 59-58 loss to Boston University on Thursday night. The Catamounts had a chance to win it with four seconds remaining, but a Mike Trimboli shot just missed. Marqus Blakely earned his seventh straight and 11th career double-double on Thursday with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Blakely leads the America East in scoring (19.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.0). Trimboli is second in the league in scoring at 18.2 points per game. Vermont is first in the conference in field goal percentage (.456) and second in assists (14.54 per game).

Game Notes: -Junior Michael Tyree scored a team-high 13 points on Thursday against Hartford. It was his first time in double-figures since tallying a career-high 20 points at Vermont on January 21.

-The Seawolves totaled 17 offensive rebounds on Thursday against Hartford and lead the league in offensive boards with 321.

-SBU allowed just 53 points against Hartford on Thursday and have allowed over 70 points to an opponent just once this season at Stony Brook Arena.

-Hartford hit 10 three-pointers on Thursday against the Seawolves, the seventh time this season an opponent has hit double-figures in three-pointers.

-Head coach Steve Pikiell has gotten terrific contributions from his bench this season as the Seawolves have outscored the opponents bench in 17 of their 24 contests.