Stony Brook Captures Regular-Season America East Title

Over the summer, one of the biggest stories was the run by Stony Brook to the college baseball College World Series. The winning didn't stop on the diamond though.

The Seawolves captured the regular-season America East title by beating the biggest challenger for the title, Boston University, 71-55, Thursday night.

Stony Brook coasted to the win with a near triple-double by Tommy Brenton, one of the finalists for the Lou Henson award, given to the top mid-major basketball player in the country. Brenton had 14 points, 13 rebound and seven assists in the win.

The Seawolves raced out to a 36-17 lead at halftime and never had to look back. They now have 12 true road victories this season, the most in the country.

That is important, because Stony Brook has probably been overlooked this season as one of the best mid-major squads. Consider that in the latest MRI rankings, the team was ranked No. 51 in the country. That is good enough to "qualify" as an at-large candidate by the numbers, even though the profile won't be there.

They may not win their first game of the NCAA Tournament, considering the seeding they are likely to get. They have no top-100 wins. They have only two top-100 losses (Seton Hall and Connecticut). And the best win might be against either a 17-11 Canisius team, or conference foe Vermont.

That is a recipe for a 15- or 16- seed, no matter how nice the record is (21-6, nothing to sneeze at).

Now all of this is assuming that Stony Brook makes it through the America East tournament -- not an easy task. But they have at least sealed a spot in the NIT, and they will be a tough out in that Tournment, given the overall strength of the team.