Stony Brook exacts revenge on Drexel, slays Dragons with late comeback

By Kyle Morello (@Kylemorello4)

STONY BROOK, N.Y. — When Stony Brook came to Philadelphia on January 8, it left feeling overmatched by Drexel; so much so that the Seawolves only scored 37 points in a 56-37 loss that helped spark a 7-2 stretch for the Dragons.

And yet, after a 72-69 topsy-turvy win Monday night on Long Island for Stony Brook, it’s the Seawolves that find themselves tied for fourth in CAA play at 8-6 just five weeks later. 

The night-and-day performance from the last meeting was not an accident for Stony Brook. It was all head coach Geno Ford could think about leading up to Monday’s contest.

“How many times have we talked about 37 points?” Ford said. “You guys are tired of hearing me say it, that’s all I’ve talked about.”

“You beat somebody’s ass, 56-37, you can’t possibly as a player have any respect for the other team,” he said to freshman guard Andrej Shoshkikj, who put up 14 points and had three steals, the last of which helped salt the game away from Drexel.

After an unsuccessful challenge on an out-of-bounds call by Ford, Drexel had a baseline inbounds down 70-69 with 21.1 seconds left. The ball went to Eli Beard, who, after a few dribbles, was stripped by Shoshkikj. The freshman was fouled and made the ensuing free throws to put Stony Brook up three. 

“He caught the ball in the dead corner,” Shoshkikj said of Beard’s possession.” “I knew he was trying to get it out. He wasn’t trying to go attack baseline because there’s nothing to do there. And I don’t know, I just saw an opportunity.”

After a Victor Panov miss from three for Drexel and a Richard Goods miss at the line for Stony Brook, the Dragons had one final chance for the tie. Kevon Vanderhorst’s attempt fell short, sealing the game for the Seawolves.

It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Stony Brook, however. The Seawolves trailed Drexel, 27-16, with 7:47 remaining in the first half. At this point, the Dragons had just three turnovers in the game. They would end the half with nine, including five in a span of five minutes and eight seconds that coincided with a scoring drought of the exact same length. Stony Brook went on a 19-8 scoring run to end the half and take a one-point lead into the break.

The Seawolves would increase their lead from there, getting it up to eight before a 12-4 Drexel run brought things even once again with just under eleven minutes left in regulation. From there, it continued to be a back-and-forth affair, but the Dragons retook a 67-63 lead with 2:33 to play, a lead they would hold until the 1:16 mark.

“You know, you’re down four with 1:10 left, not great odds at winning, statistically,” Ford said. “That ESPN tracker thing, I don’t know what the odds were, but it wasn’t real high. And we found a way.”

And find a way, Stony Brook did. It came through one final run, a 9-2 advantage over those last 76 seconds to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

“I’m really proud of the win late because that thing could have gone sideways earlier in the game and late in the game,” Ford confessed.

Stony Brook (16-11, 8-6 CAA)  will look to build off this win with another home game on Saturday against Hampton. As for Drexel (13-14, 7-7 CAA), it will be a bounce-back opportunity for the Dragons on the road at Northeastern on Thursday before welcoming Towson to The DAC on Sunday.