While most of the college basketball world was watching the comeback by Western Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament, Stony Brook was in New Jersey taking on Seton Hall in the first round of the NIT Tournament. Once again, heartbreak for Seawolves fans. Tommy Brenton missed a put-back lay-up as time expired as Seton Hall defeated the Seawolves 63-61.

Despite 11 first-half turnovers, Stony Brook trailed only 32-30 at the half. The Seawolves looked to be in even more trouble in the second half after guard Dave Coley was given a technical foul, which forced him out of the game. However, Stony Brook fought and stayed with the Pirates, a team that just missed out on the NCAA Tournament coming out of the Big East Conference. Despite being down 63-57 with under two minutes to play, the Seawolves stepped up on defense, forcing missed shots and cutting the lead to 63-61 with under a minute to play. After a missed Seton Hall jumper, the Seawolves had the ball for the final shot. However, the Pirates defense stepped up, forcing Bryan Dougher to take a long distance three-point shot for the win. However, the ball went right into the hand of Brenton off the rim. Defying all physics it seemed, Brenton's put-back lay-up rolled on the rim and fell to the floor as time expired.

Dallis Joyner, in his final game with Stony Brook, finished with a team high 14 points. Despite being a no-show in the AE Conference Championship Game, Joyner nearly finished with a double-double, catching nine rebounds. Outside shooting killed the Seawolves, as they shot 6 for 24 from three-point range.

The Seawolves must now rebuild and prep for next season. They finish the year at 22-10. Seton Hall will move on to play UMass in the second-round of the NIT.

Stony Brook has been given the #8 seed in their region and will take on Seton Hall in the first-round on the NIT Tournament. The game will be at Seton Hall on Tuesday at 7:15 pm on ESPN3. The Pirates were considered one of the final team left out of the NCAA Tournament. In other words...Stony Brook gets to play a really pissed off team.

Seton Hall plays at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. This means it should be easy access for Seawolves fans for the game. The Pirates did not play any AE teams during the season. The winner of the game will take on the winner of Mississippi St. and UMass, also scheduled to be played Tuesday.

If I had to watch a generally meaningless out of conference game right after a crushing conference loss, I want to see my boys with their nails out, hunting for blood.

Not quite what happened in Boston today... but instead I got a solidly contested game between a mid-pack CAA team and an upper tier AEC team - in other words, an even matchup.

In the opening minutes the game was back and forth. SBU dominated the paint on rebounds, earning a few 2nd and 3rd chance buckets. Tommy Brenton and Dallis Joyner wrought havoc under the basket, making it very uncomfortable for Northeastern to run any plays inside. To compensate, Northeastern resorted to 3-point shooting. Junior Joel Smith displayed impressive composure against an SBU defense that wasn't giving him much slack, sinking 3 3pt shots early in the first. He would go on to score 20 pts on 6-10 3pt shooting through the game. Northeastern successfully identified the open man on the perimeter on several occasions, allowing completely open 3-pt shooting from the suddenly hot Huskies offense.

More about Northeastern and a preview of SBU's final 2 conference games after the break!

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For the second time in three seasons, Stony Brook will face Vermont with the top seed in America East and a guaranteed playoff berth on the line.

While the outcome of tomorrow’s game—tipoff time is at noon in Burlington—won’t technically settle the race for the regular season conference championship, with games at Hartford and at home against Maine to close out the season, Stony Brook will be sitting pretty if they can pull off the road win over the Catamounts.

And that’s no easy task. Vermont has not lost at home in conference play since last season, and they are perhaps the most well-rounded team in America East. Like Stony Brook, Vermont does not rely on a single player to carry their offense. Four McGlynn, Matt Glass and Luke Apfeld can each kill opponents from the floor, and each are averaging double digits in scoring this season. In the first matchup between these two, in the conference opener January 2, it was Apfeld who unloaded 18 points off the bench in a 65-59 loss to the Seawolves.

Of course, Stony Brook has quite a bit in its corner too, not the least of which is the top defense in the conference, and one of the best in the country. For the season, the Seawolves are holding opponents to 58.7 points per game, good for 20^th in the nation. When they’re able to hold opponents to fewer than 60 points, Stony Brook is a perfect 13-0 this season.

More--including Stony Brook's keys to victory and a prediction--after the jump.

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It's hard to label another regular season game as more important than Stony Brook's win over Boston University a week ago, but tomorrow's match up with Albany comes close. Unfortunately for the Seawolves, they find themselves in a position where a win over the Danes in upstate New York may end up costing them home court advantage in the playoffs.

Explanation after the jump.

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When I was a kid, I used to play that stupid camp game hot potato. You remember: a group of kids sit in a circle and toss each other a potato (more often a tennis ball or beanbag, but whatever), and when the music stops, whoever is holding it loses.

That pretty much sums up America East right now, with Binghamton in the role of the potato. At 0-21, they have exactly the same number of wins that a team comprised of five actual potatoes placed at center court would have. But at some point, the music is going to stop, and one of the other eight teams in America East is going to be stuck holding the ball.

Nobody wants to be that team. And tomorrow, Stony Brook holds its breath and takes its chance when the Seawolves welcome the Binghamton Bearcats to loud Pritchard Gymnasium.

This will be the second meeting between these two teams. Back in early January, Stony Brook barely escaped Vestal with a win, squeaking by 60-54. While the old adage "a win is a win" still applies, it was a poor performance all around for Stony Brook, which allowed Binghamton to shoot 42% from the field, and an astounding 43% from three-point range. Those are troubling statistics for a team that wins games by playing air-tight defense.

More after the jump.

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For a few minutes there, it looked like this game could get ugly.

The Boston University Terriers came out of the gate firing on all cylinders, shooting just south of 70% for the first several minutes of the game, at one point knocking down what felt like a dozen consecutive threes despite decent coverage by Stony Brook. In the process, they built a quick 9-point lead, but the Seawolves didn’t blink.

Instead, Bryan Dougher unloaded 20 points for the second consecutive game and Stony Brook University ended Boston’s seven game winning streak to take over sole possession of first place in the America East with a 66-57 win over their archrivals.

The game was labeled a sell-out by the Stony Brook Athletics Department over a week ago, and students clamored for a coveted entrance wristband all week, lining up at the Seawolves’ previous home game on Wednesday to claim a ticket. By tipoff, Pritchard gymnasium was packed to the brim, and students lined the floor to catch a glimpse of what will likely remain the biggest regular season home game of the year.

And the performance on the court did not disappoint the fans, or the national audience watching on ESPNU and ESPN3.com. The Seawolves got huge offensive contributions from their starters, who all contributed at least 7 points in Stony Brook’s first win over Boston in six tries dating back to the 2009-2010 season. The bench, which was a none-factor in their first meeting earlier this season, also chipped in 13 points.

More after the jump

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While I’m certain Bryan Dougher, Tommy Brenton and the rest of the Seawolves will deny it, it’s safe to assume Stony Brook has only one date circled on their calendars this week: January 27. That’s when they’ll welcome archrival Boston University to Pritchard Gymnasium in what I’m officially calling the start of Super Bowl week.

But before those two square off for sole possession of first in America East, Stony Brook had better not look past a surprising Hartford team on Wednesday.

Entering conference play, Hartford was keeping Binghamton company in the ranks of winless teams. But after a loss to Albany, Hartford rattled off a 4-1 record en route to a solid position in the top half of America East standings (ahead, for a time, of even a very good Albany team). What remained unclear was whether the Hawks were for real, or beneficiaries of an easy start to conference play: the four wins came against the bottom four teams in the conference, with a combined record of 18-56.

That theory gained traction on Sunday, with Hartford losing big to BU. Wednesday’s game will likely settle the question over whether Hartford is just another middle-of-the-pack conference also ran, or whether they should be taken seriously.

On paper, Stony Brook is the heavy favorite. They’re undefeated at Pritchard gymnasium this year (and now students are back, ensuring a packed house), have won eight of their last nine, and sport the best defense in the conference and an offense that has been slowly improving from early season woes.

If they want the W, they’ll have to find ways to protect against Hartford’s three-point shooting. The Hawks take more shots from behind the arch than any team in the conference, and when they sink, Hartford can erase a deficit or build a lead quickly. Stony Brook’s defense has to pressure the Hawks and minimize the number of quality looks Wes Cole and Andres Torres get.

More after the jump

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