Nov. 25, 2011
Box Score |
Photo Gallery 
|
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score: Northwestern 63, Stony Brook 58
Records: NU (5-0), Stony Brook (2-3)
Next NU Event: Tuesday, Nov. 29 - at Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Ga), 6:15 p.m. CT
EVANSTON, Ill. -- John Shurna scored a game-high 20 points and freshman Dave Sobolewski added a career-best 16 as Northwestern fought off Stony Brook for a 63-58 win at Welsh-Ryan Arena Friday afternoon.
The victory improved the Wildcats to 5-0 for the second consecutive season. NU has now won 15 of its last 16 games in the month of November.
"Stony Brook is a veteran team, they're well-coached and they just wouldn't go away," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said. "We got off to a bad start and it seemed like we were fighting back the whole game. Even when we had an eight-point lead or so, it didn't seem like we were in the clear."
Northwestern was slow out of the gates as the Seawolves jumped in front early, scoring the game's first eight points. However, the 'Cats got things going as they responded with a 20-5 run to surge in front by seven.
Stony Brook refused to go away, though. The Seawolves shot just 31.4 percent (11-35) in the opening half of play, but nine offensive rebounds led to nine second-chance points as the guests trailed by just two, 30-28, at the break.
Shurna paced the Wildcats with nine first-half points, while Sobolewski and Reggie Hearn added eight apiece.
The game was tied five minutes into the second stanza when NU stretched its advantage out to 10 at 46-36 thanks to a 14-4 run. The lead was still 10 with 6:22 remaining when the visitors made one final surge.
A lay-in and a 3-pointer quickly cut the deficit to five with 5:40 still left. Dallis Joyner hit one of two free throws with 1:53 to go to cut NU's lead to 55-52, but JerShon Cobb calmly drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key with the shot clock winding down to make it a six-point game with 1:24 left.
Stony Brook was unable to get closer than four the rest of the way.
"We've been in four straight games where it has come down to the last minute," said Carmody. "JerShon hit a big shot for us."
Drew Crawford joined Shurna and Sobolewski in double figures with 12 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds. Joyner and Leonard Hayes paces the Seawolves with 13 points apiece.
NU shot 43.8 percent (21-48) from the field in the contest while limiting Stony Brook to 36.4 percent (24-66).
Northwestern returns to action at 6:15 p.m. Central time Tuesday as it travels to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!