2010–11 Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team

The 2010–11 Stony Brook Seawolves men's basketball team represents Stony Brook University in the America East Conference. They are coached by Steve Pikiell, who is currently on his sixth year as a coach for Stony Brook. Stony Brook entered the year as the defending America East regular season champions after a year of school records and successes in the basketball program. Stony Brook currently competes at home in the Pritchard Gymnasium (Stony Brook Arena under renovations). The Seawolves were 2nd place (57pts) in the America East preseason poll behind a close first-place BU (62pts). The Seawolves received their largest broadcasting package in school history for the 2010–11 season including four games with the ESPN family of networks, and a series of games with MSG+.

Coaching
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@ Connecticut
Stony Brook opened their season against Connecticut at the Gampel Pavilion. A friendly season opener between Steve Pikiell and Jim Calhoun, the latter who coached Pikiell while he attended Uconn in the 80’s. Stony Brook held tight for most of the first half against a strong Connecticut defense but ran into early foul trouble six minutes into the first half. Connecticut was up 29–21, but Dougher dropped a three-pointer to make the game 29–24. Connecticut’s offense went on an 8–2 run to make the game 37–26. Dougher puts the Seawolves back into the game with a pair of free throws and a three which set the game 37–31. The first half ended 39–31 with a Connecticut lead. The second half started with a two-pointer by Chris Martin, but Connecticut’s offense proved too much and went on a 12–0 run and limited the Seawolves to 15.2% shooting from the field for the rest of the second half . The game consisted of a strong performance by Bryan Dougher with 19 points and with a good debut from freshman Anthony Jackson who scored 8 points. Chris Martin also scored 12 points. Cartin and Martin led the Seawolves with 6 rebounds each. However, Connecticut’s combined defense and strength from the free throw line (15–20) led to a 79–52 loss, limiting the Seawolves to 27% shooting. Connecticut also out-rebounded the Seawolves 59–33.

Vs Mount Ida
The Seawolves opened their home season against Mount Ida, after a first game lost to Connecticut. The Seawolves started the game slow allowing Mount Ida to take an early 11–7 lead. Mount Ida led for most of the first half but the Seawolves responded with an 11–2 run led by freshman Anthony Jackson. Stony Brook went ahead breaking a 29–29 tie sending the Seawolves into halftime with a 34–29 lead. The Seawolves entered the second half with a 19–5 run as Dougher gives a start to an offensive rush scoring 15 of the points setting the game to a 54–34 Seawolves lead. Stony Brook defended the field allowing only 6 out of 31 (19%) in the second half with an eventual 37-point win over Mount Ida, 80–43. Bryan Dougher led the Seawolves in the offensive end scoring 24 points in the game, 21 of those in the second half while Al Rapier led the game with 11 rebounds. The Seawolves extended their home winning streak to ten games.

@ Monmouth
For the first time in the program’s history, Stony Brook participated in the ESPN College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon playing at the 6am time slot against Monmouth. From early on, Monmouth held to a close lead against the Seawolves for most of the game and a 24–20 lead at halftime. In the second half, Monmouth goes in a 10–0 run going ahead with a score of 34–23 over the Seawolves. With timely shooting and offense the Seawolves came within 2 with 11:52 left on the clock. Stony Brook wasn’t able to gain the lead for most of the second half but trailed for lest than five points for most of the half coming down to the last two minutes of the game. The Seawolves tied the game at 41–41 with 1:41 left in the clock and that proved to be the play of the game as the Seawolves gained the lead and capped a 51–49 win over Monmouth. Chris Martin led the Seawolves with 13 points, but Al Raiper combined 10 points, and 6 rebounds to push Stony Brook to a win at West Long Branch, NJ.

@ Fairleigh Dickinson
The Seawolves faced off against Fairleigh Dickinson going for their third straight win of the season at Hackensack, NJ. For most of the first half the game was a back and forth affair until the Seawolves went on a 5–0 run to take a 34–29 lead on the end of the half. The Seawolves opened the second half with another 5–0 run to take a 39–29 lead over the FDU. The game became 47–42 with a three-pointer by Tyler Reynolds but the Seawolves responded right back with a three-pointer by Dave Coley to go ahead 50–42. FDU went on a run to make the game 53–50 with 5:12 left on the half. Another three by Coley put the Seawolves ahead by six leading to an eventual 66–59 win over the Knights putting the Seawolves 3–1 early in the season. The Seawolves held Fairleigh Dickinson to 33% shooting and managed to out-rebound the Knights 51–41 with a total of 15 offensive rebounds and eight second chance points.

Vs Wagner
Stony Brook came into the game looking for its fourth straight victory early in the season. The Seawolves held a 28–27 as they entered halftime but were outscored 31–26 in the second half by Wagner. Wagner started the second half quick with a two pointer and then a three by Tyler Murray to pull ahead 32–28. Wagner continued the offense and pulled an 11–1 run to expand its lead to 38–29. However, Stony Brook was able to strike back and put the game within two with a layup Danny Carter to put the game 40–38. For the rest of the half the game was a back and forth affair but Stony Brook couldn’t take the lead until Dallis Joyner makes a dunk to put the Seawolves ahead 48–47 with 2:58 left in the game. However, Tyler Murray strikes back with a three pointer to place Wagner in the lead 50–48 which proved to be the play of the game as Wagner went ahead to win 58–54. Dougher led the Seawolves with 15 points, Danny Carter had his career first double-double with 14 points and 11 points. Stony Brook out-rebounded Wagner 49–30. Wagner was able to shoot 39.5% from the field and near perfect from the free-throw line (19 of 20) while the Seawolves were 20–28 from the line. Wagner limited the Seawolves 15 Field Goals in the game and 23.8% from the field ending the Seawolves three game winning streak. The lost to Wagner was Stony Brook first lost after a 10 game home winning streak.

Vs Lehigh
Stony Brook entered the game 3–2 after a close four point game loss against Wagner. For most of the first half the Seawolves were leading and went on to close the first half with a 38–30 lead. Early in the second half Lehigh was able to pull an 11–4 run to put the game 42–41 with 16:25 left of regulation. Stony Brook then went on a 17–4 run to lead by as much as 14 points, 59–45, with less than 9:40 minutes of regulation. With Stony Brook leading 62–51 in the game, McCollum led Lehigh with a great performance scoring six of the next nine points to place the Mountain Hawks within two with 3:42 minutes left. Stony Brook led 64–62 before two free throws by McCollum tied the game to finish regulation and send them into overtime. In overtime Dougher put the Seawolves back on top with a layup, 73–70 with 1:20 left. However, Lehigh responded with a three by McCollum to tie the game. McCollum then stole the ball away from the Seawolves and then captured the lead for good with a layup to place Lehigh with a 75–73 lead and an eventual 79–76 win over the Seawolves. The Seawolves shot 40.6 percent from the field and were able to capitalize on 22 turnovers with a total of 29 points; however they shot poorly from the charity stripe with only 57.1 percent (12-for-21). Lehigh in the other hand shot 45 percent from the field and 90 percent from the free throw line to come out with the win at the Pritchard and hand Stony Brook its second straight loss. Individually, Bryan Dougher scored 26 points followed by Al Rapier with 11 points. On the Lehigh end, McCollum scored a game high 31 points followed by Knutson with 18 points. Dallis Joyner, Al Rapier, and Chris Martin captured the most rebounds for the Seawolves with seven, and a tie for six respectively. However, Lehigh outrebounded the Seawolves 37–30 in the field.

Vs Vermont
Stony Brook entered the game 1–0 in the AE after beating UMBC for their conference opener and returned home looking for their third straight win overall. Vermont entered the game 9–3 against out of conference teams. From early on the Seawolves were able to take the lead after Marcus Rouse shot a three pointer to make the game 8–6 in favor of Stony Brook. Stony Brook continued its offensive strike going ahead by as much as seven in the second half but Vermont was able to hold on to come back and trail by only two point, 28–26 entering halftime. Marcus Rouse pulled three three-pointers to keep the Seawolves ahead of the Catamounts in the first half. Vermont opened the second half making two free throws to tie the game again, 28–28 since early in the first half. Four consecutive points by Fjeld gave Vermont a 32–28 lead. A strong Vermont defense limited the Seawolves to not a single field goal until 6:23 in the second half after a three pointer by Dougher put the Seawolves back into a 32–31 game. Stony Brook gathered some momentum from there to take a three point lead on free throws by Rouse to putting the game 37–34 but a late offensive spark led by Vermont and numerous shots missed by the Seawolves led to an eventual 55–49 loss. Fouls played an important role in the game as the Seawolves were whistled 22 times against Vermont’s 13. Key free-throws by Accaoui and Bald allowed Vermont to retain a late-game lead while overall Vermont was 16-for-23 from the line. For the Seawolves Marcus Rouse led the offense with his career-high 19 points while Fjeld scored 17 for the Catamounts. Voekel scored 11, and rebounded 11 for a double-double against the Seawolves. Stony Brook had 32% shooting in the game and only 20.6 percent in the second half against Vermont’s 41% overall. -->

Season
The 2010–2011 season started with a season opener game against the Connecticut Huskies at the Gampel Pavilion resulting in a 79–52 loss to the eventual national champions. The Seawolves then opened their home season two days later with an 80–43 win against Division III Mount Ida. The Seawolves posted a second straight win at Monmouth on for a 51–49 end of the game for their first ever national broadcast on ESPN (College Tip-off Marathon). The Seawolves went on to win their third straight with a 66–59 over Fairleigh Dickinson. Coming back home the Seawolves played against Wagner, losing a close 58–54 game in which free-throws percentage largely affected the team. After the lost against Wagner, the Seawolves hosted Lehigh at the Gymnasium and at one point in the second half held to a 14-point lead, however, a late run by Lehigh allowed the team to get tie and eventually beat the Seawolves on overtime by a score of 79–76. The Seawolves then traveled to New York, NY to play a match up against the Columbia Lions, a game which the Seawolves lost by a score of 73–72 which resulted in the third straight lost by the Seawolves by four or less points, and the second straight lost in which the Seawolves held substantial leads in the second half but weren't able to close it. The Seawolves then traveled to Holy Cross to play a game which also resulted to be very close but which ended on Seawolves favor with a game winning layup by Dave Coley with a second of regulation to capture the Seawolves fourth win of the season, a score of 54–53. The Seawolves battled Sacred Heart but fell at home to a score of 75–66 and then traveled to South Bend, Indiana to face off against No. 24 Notre Dame, their second Big East team of the season. Seawolves battled Notre Dame for most of the first half keeping a score of 29–26 but allowed an 8–0 run to end the half leading to an eventual 88–62 loss.

The Seawolves opened conference play with a win against UMBC and continued throughout the season with struggles in the offensive end and with injuries affecting their sole senior Chris Martin and other players for most of the season. Due to injuries, Pikiell resorted to using the bench more often allowing for Sophomore like Leonard Hayes to get more playing time. Hayes was able to show his potential, entering the starting five and showing his improvement in the conference tournament. Overall, Stony Brook ended the regular season with a 13–16 record and 8–8 in the America East and headed to the tournament as the number fifth seed. In their quarterfinal match against Albany the Seawolves were able to use strong defense and a stellar offense to drag a 67–61 win against Albany at Hartford against an opponent that swept them in the regular season. The Semifinals then played the next day against No. 1 Vermont ending in a surprising offensive effort by Stony Brook, who led from the beginning to the end, to capture a 69–47 promising win against a Vermont team who also swept them in the regular season. For the first time in Stony Brook's Division I program history, the Seawolves were to participate in the America East championship game. Their next match up was announced to be the No. 2 Boston Terriers. On March 12 the Championship was hosted at Agganis Arena at Boston. Again, Stony Brook showed a strong first half outing and a strong defense for most of game and held to a lead of up to 15 points. However, with less than a minute in the clock the terriers tied the game thanks to the John Holland (America East POY), and then captured the lead with a decisive foul on Stony Brook with 2 seconds of regulation left. Boston went on to win 56–54 to end the Seawolves hopes for their first-ever NCAA tournament bid.

Schedule
!colspan=9 style=| Regular season

!colspan=9 style=| America East tournament