STONY BROOK, NY — An extreme cold warning took effect across much of the East Coast on Saturday. On Long Island, wind chills plunged as low as -15, and it was genuinely uncomfortable to stand outside for more than minutes at a time throughout much of the day.
Unfortunately for Northeastern, Stony Brook’s defense might’ve made them more uncomfortable indoors than they were out. For the better part of two hours, the Seawolves harassed and harried the Huskies into a cold front of their own, holding the visitors to just 33% from the floor in a 69-55 victory.
This one got underway slowly, to say the least. Northeastern took a 6-0 lead via back-to-back threes from junior guards Mike Loughnane and JB Frankel, but it took them more than four minutes of game time to do so. By the time the Seawolves finally got on the board via a transition layup by graduate guard Rob Brown III, it’d been over five minutes since the start of the game.
Things continued to crawl along for the next five minutes, with the Huskies carrying an 8-7 advantage. It’d be Stony Brook who found their offensive footing first, however, using an Andrej Shoshkikj triple to take the lead before an Ethan Simmon three extended it. Northeastern, meanwhile, continued to falter, scoring just one point over 4:25 of game time while the home team opened up a 21-9 lead.
Consecutive threes by Frankel gave the Huskies some life as the stanza wore down, but Northeastern just couldn’t consistently crack an extremely disciplined Stony defense. To their credit, the Huskies’ defensive effort didn’t waver, and a Loughnane layup before the frame expired kept Northeastern within striking distance at 29-19.
“Without Will, we’ve really struggled to score the ball,” head coach Bill Coen said of William Kermoury, who missed out on Saturday’s game through injury. “He wasn’t available… with the way he’s been shooting the ball, [he] lightens up the load for everyone else.”
Kermoury, Northeastern’s leading scorer, went through warmups, but ultimately sat with a lower-body injury. And, even as the Huskies battled in the second half, his presence was sorely missed as Northeastern went just 2-11 from three in the frame.
As you might’ve guessed, that mark wasn’t conducive to a comeback. A Richard Goods three upped Stony Brook’s lead to 13 at the outset of the second half, and despite Northeastern’s best efforts, that lead oscillated between 13 and 20 points as the Seawolves remained in complete control to the final buzzer.
Graduate guard Erik Pratt, who the Huskies kept relatively anonymous in the first half, rounded into form in the second half, knocking down all four of his field goal attempts. Pratt entered as Stony Brook’s leading scorer, and even as he was only able to notch 13 points of his own, Northeastern’s focus on him allowed others to thrive.
One of those others was Shoshkikj, whose performance didn’t jump off the stat sheet (10 points, four rebounds, five assists) but was quietly instrumental in Stony Brook’s second-half dominance. The freshman from Slovakia orchestrated the offense for large swaths of time, displaying patience and game awareness beyond his years as his Seawolves salted away the win.
Meanwhile, Loughnane led all scorers with 17, and was one of Northeastern’s few offensive bright spots. The junior transfer from Davidson College has become one of the Huskies’ more reliable offensive players after a slow start, continuing his positive run on Saturday.
Unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough, especially on a night where a seemingly hobbled Youri Fritz just couldn’t find a way to impact the game. The Dutchman finished with a meager two points, logging just nine minutes as he continued a return from his sprained MCL.
“I was really proud of our guys. As always, [Loughnane] did a good job being a leader out there,” Coen said. “[Fritz] doesn’t have his rhythm yet… we really need him to get that back. There’s no other way than just to play through, but he’s trying to help the team.”
Northeastern returns to action on Thursday when William & Mary comes to town. Jordan Walsh and Aiden Barker will have your call on Sports+, with tip set for 7 p.m.
Jacob Phillips is the Sports Director for WRBB Sports. He’s been covering Northeastern athletics for over two years, focusing primarily on men’s basketball. Follow him on Twitter here and Instagram here. He also writes for Mid-Major Madness, and you can find his work here.