Stony Brook 67 Vermont 64
I am going to preface this post by saying that I am very superstitious. As a result this post will sound more positive than maybe it should after a loss. I am very wary of any team that is undefeated in conference during the regular season. Especially in conferences where each team plays every other team twice. No matter the talent level, it is very hard to beat a team three times in a season. Stony Brook is a great example of this as they have lost some tough games in the conference tournament to teams they dominated in the regular season. Vermont experienced the same phenomenon last season. In the first Albany game they ran them out of the gym. The second time they played the game was closer but Vermont prevailed. In the third matchup, Albany was able to come away with a victory when it counted most. I do not necessarily like the term "good loss" but there certainly are losses that can further motivate a team to get better. Vermont played a very poor first half and that is what lost them the game. However, the fact that they battled back and had a chance to win has to motivate them to not let a first half like that happen the next time these two teams play. It is very difficult to win at Stony Brook and when the schedule comes out and I try to estimate wins and losses, this is a game I often put in the loss column. To me it is more about how they lose the game and the way the game went in the second half was very encouraging. Ethan O'Day was unstoppable in the second half. Jameel Warney is the best player in the conference and had a phenomenal game. He is very skilled around the hoop and has a knack for making the big play. For the first 18 minutes of the second half however, Vermont shut him down and O'Day outplayed him. The second half of the game is what I think we would have been seeing from O'Day all year had he not suffered the thumb injury. It makes me excited to see O'Day and Warney battle each other for the rest of their careers as they are in the same class. Vermont's bench bench playing so well is going to create some tough decisions for Coach Becker down the stretch. Steidl is the best three point shooter in the conference and his play has lifted the Cats offense for two straight games. Steidl absolutely without a doubt has to play more, especially in the first half. The lineup that has been most effective over the last two games is Carissimo, Voelkel, O'Day, Steidl, and Harold. The offense flows better with more offensive weapons on the court and the length of this lineup made them a tough defensive unit as well. Harold is finally looking less spacey on the court and was very aggressive in the game last night. Rugg and Rusin are good players and I am not saying Rugg should be forgotten about but Harold and Stiedl need more first half minutes. I will go so far as to say that Steidl and O'Day should be in the starting lineup. Rusin is very streaky and if he does not hit his first shot in a game he completely loses confidence. Maybe coming off the bench would motivate him to stay focused during the entire game. On the other side, I love Luke Apfeld and what he has done for the program but you can tell that he is running on fumes at this point. He probably should settle in to a bench role as he has been playing bench minutes most games anyway. Rugg will get back on track but teams have really adjusted their defense on him and are forcing him to face up and they are daring him to shoot a short jumper. I am sure the coaching staff will start to draw up some plays to get Rugg moving toward the basket and that will help him get back in rhythm. Stony Brook played tough and came up with big plays down the stretch to stave off the Cats rally. This game clearly demonstrated that when the dust settles at the end of the season, a hotly contested matchup between Stony Brook and Vermont will likely decide the championship. Hold on tight it is going to be a great finish.
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