STONY BROOK, NY – North Carolina A&T's men's basketball game on Saturday at Island Federal Arena against the Stony Brook University (SBU) Seawolves mirrored in many ways what happened two days earlier at Towson. The Aggies made some impressive runs once again but could not gain the lead, and as Towson did on Thursday, SBU eventually made enough plays to pull away.
In a game of two teams who were winless going into Saturday's game in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), SBU defeated the Aggies 89-74. A&T dropped to 4-18 overall and 0-9 in the CAA despite a combined 57 points from junior guard Landon Glasper and sophomore guard Ryan Forrest.
Glasper led the way with 29 points on 10-for-24 shooting. Forrest ended the afternoon with 28 points, making 10 of his 13 free throw attempts. SBU's CJ Luster led all scorers with 31 points, going 9-for-13 from the floor, 4-for-7 from three and 9-for-9 from the line.
The short-handed Aggies took a 6-5 lead on a layup from Glasper with 16:51 remaining in the first half. It would be A&T's final lead of the game as Andre Snoddy hit a 3-pointer a minute later to give the Seawolves the lead back.
A&T did get to within one, 28-27, with 5:15 to play on a Glasper 3-pointer.
SBU increased its lead from there. The Seawolves outscored the Aggies 14-4 over the next three minutes to take a 42-31 lead. A&T got the lead down to nine on a driving layup from Glasper before Luster got into the lane for another bucket to give SBU a 46-35 halftime lead. SBU maintained a double-digit lead over the first 2 ½ minutes of the second half until Forrest completed a 3-point play to get the Aggies to within nine at 52-43.
Forrest helped the Aggies cut SBU's lead to 55-51 with 13 minutes to play on two free throws. But SBU built its lead back to double figures on an and-1 from Luster, followed by a 3-pointer from Luster. The Aggies did not give in, however.
They made their next charge at the 11-minute mark after a layup from SBU's Ben Wright gave the Seawolves a 65-54 advantage. Forrest followed with two free throws before A&T center Efstratios Kalliontzis blocked Wright's shot, leading to a breakaway layup by Forrest to cut the Seawolves lead to 65-58.
Two more free throws from Glasper got the lead down to five with 8 ½ minutes to play. SBU made its final response. Andre Snoddy scored on a layup, and on SBU's next possession, the Seawolves' two offensive rebounds eventually led to a Snoddy 3-pointer.
The three gave the Seawolves a 70-60 lead with 7:10 to play. The Aggies never got the lead under double figures again. SBU had a 19-10 second-chance points advantage.
A&T will return home on Thursday, January 30, as they face UNC Wilmington at 7 p.m. from Corbett Sports Center.
