Feb. 19, 2008

Stony Brook, N.Y. - The Stony Book men's basketball team will attempt to win its second game in a row on Wednesday night, traveling to take on the New Hampshire Wildcats at Lundholm Gym. Game time is set for 7 p.m and can be heard on WLIR 107.1 FM. Fans can also follow Livestats of the game at www.unhwildcats.com.

Last Time Out: Senior Ricky Lucas (Herndon, Va.) hit the go-ahead jumper with 2:43 left in overtime as the Stony Brook University men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point second half deficit on its way to a 71-70 victory over the Vermont Catamounts on Sunday afternoon at Stony Brook Arena. Freshman Jermol Paul (Palm Beach, Fla.) hit a three to put the Seawolves up 64-61 on the opening possession of overtime but a Kyle Cieplicki four-point play less than minute later put the Catamounts back on top by one. Lucas had an answer though, pulling up for a jumper from the top of the key that put Stony Brook up 66-65. The Seawolves would push their lead to four with 27 seconds left after junior Michael Tyree (Somerset, N.J.) hit one of two free throws and sophomore Eddie Castellanos (Hoboken, N.J.) hit both freebies. Marquis Blakely pulled the Catamounts within two on a follow lay-in and after Lucas hit just one of two free throws, UVM had the ball with a chance to tie. But Cieplicki missed a long three and Tyree corralled one of his career-high seven rebounds to secure the victory for Stony Brook. Lucas, the America East Co-Player of the game, tallied a team-high 15 points while Paul added a career-high 15 as well. Blakely had a monster game for UVM, recording 26 points and 18 rebounds to earn America East Co-Player of the game honors. The Stony Brook defensive effort was stellar as the Seawolves held the Catamounts, the top three-point field goal percentage team in the league, to just seven of 32 from long distance.

Series History: UNH leads the all-time series 9-5 and has won four straight over the Seawolves at Lundholm Gym. The Seawolves have not won there since a 77-71 victory on Feb. 2, 2003. Stony Brook dropped a 69-55 decision at New Hampshire last season as the Wildcats shot 63 percent from the field in the second half. Ricky Lucas was the only SBU player in double-figures with 18 points.

Scouting the Wildcats: New Hampshire (7-18, 4-9) has lost five straight after a 82-63 loss at Hartford on Sunday. The Wildcats last victory came on Jan. 30, a 68-60 victory over the Seawolves and currently sit in the seventh place in the league standings just two games ahead of Stony Brook. Tyrece Gibbs leads UNH in scoring at 14.1 points per contest and is one of four Wildcats averaging double-figures in points per game. New Hampshire is 4-9 at home this season, including 2-4 in conference play and is last in the league in the field goal percentage (.390).

Last meeting: 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 Jan. 30 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.

Game Notes: -The Stony Brook defense has been especially stingy of late, holding Vermont scoreless for 9:57 in the second half on Sunday after not allowing Hartford to score for 5:53 in the second half last Thursday.

-Freshman Jermol Paul had a career day on Sunday against Vermont, setting career bests in points (15), rebounds (six) and three-point field goals (three).

-Junior Michael Tyree has responded in the four games since head coach Steve Pikiell inserted him into the starting lineup. The Somerset, N.J. native scored 10 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds in a season-high 34 minutes on Sunday against Vermont and is averaging 9.8 points per game since joining the starting five.