Stony Brook basketball falls short in challenge against West Virginia

West Virginia turned back persistent Stony Brook 75-64 on Thursday night in Morgantown, West Viriginia.

The Seawolves (4-9) trailed the Mountaineers (10-2) 28-24 at the half and shrunk a 19-point deficit in the second half to nine with about 2 1/2 minutes to go.

Tyler Stephenson-Moore scored 16 points to pace the Seawolves. Kenan Sarvan added 13, Toby Onyekonwu had 11 and Tanahj Pettway 10. And Frankie Policelli grabbed 14 rebounds for Stony Brook, who snuck within 33-32 on a Policelli 3-pointer 2 1/2 minutes into the second half.

Kedrian Johnson scored 18 points and Erik Stevenson added 16 points for West Virginia. Seth Wilson was 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range in the second half, including a clutch basket to blunt the last Stony Brook rally.

West Virginia, which shot at least 50% in its last three games, was three of 12 behind the arc and shot 34.5% overall in the first half. Johnson was the only Mountaineer with much success, scoring 12 points.

Stony Brook’s final rally was concluded when Keenan Fitzmorris hit a jumper to cut West Virginia’s lead to 66-57 with 2 1/2 minutes to go. But Wilson hit another three for West Virginia to restore the Mountaineers double-figure lead down the stretch.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

_{Top photo: Stony Brook forward Frankie Policelli (2) and West Virginia forward Mohamed Wague (11) vie for a rebound during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, in Morgantown, W.Va. (William Wotring/The Dominion-Post via AP)}