Men's College Basketball
Stony Brook University 79, Rider University 62
STONY BROOK, NY-The Broncs saw their two-game winning streak come to an end with a loss at Stony Brook Friday night. "I don't think we had the energy we needed against a good team," said Rider head coach Tommy Dempsey. "You can't let a team take it to you from the jump like we did tonight. When you are on the road and get down like that it is very hard to respond."
Rider (3-11) out-scored Stony Brook 17-9 to start the second half, nine points by sophomore Daniel Stewart (Philadelphia, PA/Neumann-Goretti), to cut the lead to 10, 46-36 with 12:34 left to play. "I was happy that we responded," Dempsey said. "There was some fight, or fight-back, I should say."
Stewart finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
The Broncs cut the lead to eight points, 61-53 with 6:00 left to play on a three-pointer by senior Jeff Jones (Chester, PA/Monsignor Bonner), but that was as close as Rider could get. Jones made five three-pointers and finished with 17 points.
Holding a 16-12 lead mid-way through the first half, Stony Brook out-scored Rider 18-2 to take a 34-14 lead, and the Seawolves led 37-19 at the half. Rider committed 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, compared to one by Stony Brook.
Stony Brook (5-6) jumped out to a 14-4 lead, as six different Seawolves scored, making six of their first 11 shots while Rider made just one of its first four shots in the first 5:30 of the game. "We just let them come right out and punch us in the face," Dempsey said. "That was discouraging and it took us a long time to recover from that."
The Seawolves were led by Dave Coley's 16 points and 15 points from Dallis Joyner.
For Rider, senior Brandon Penn (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul Robeson) added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Novar Gadson (Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram) added 10 points off the bench. Freshman Eddie Mitchell (Philadelphia, PA/La Salle) contributed eight points and three assists.
Stony Brook is picked to win the America East conference this year, after advancing to the Title Game the last two years (winning the Title in 2010). "They are a veteran team," Dempsey said.
Rider resumes conference play Monday with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game at Manhattan. "Monday night is a big game," Dempsey said. "We have to go back and get ready for that game."
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