Game highlights video

NEWARK, NJ—Senior center Jameel Warney shot 10-for-13 from the field for a game-high 20 points to lead visiting Stony Brook in a wire-to-wire 83-61 non-conference men's basketball victory over NJIT Monday night in the Estelle and Zoom Fleisher Athletic Center.
 
Warney was one of four starters to reach double-figure scoring for the Seawolves, who notched the game's first 14 points and were never seriously threatened after that in raising the record to 8-4 with four consecutive victories. Ahmad Walker, Carson Puriefoy, and Bryan Sekunda added 15 points apiece for Stony Brook and the fifth starter, Rayshaun McGrew, finished with 8 points.
 
Warney, who is being scouted by NBA teams, added 9 rebounds before leaving the floor with 11:21 left on the clock after suffering an apparent leg injury that caused him to trot gingerly as he came off the floor for the last time.
 
The top rebounder for the Seawolves was Walker, a 6-foot-4 junior, who finished with a game-high 11 rebounds, as Stony Brook enjoyed a 37-24 advantage in total rebounds.
 
The top scorer for NJIT (7-6) was sophomore Chris Jenkins, who came off the bench for 15 points, all on 5-for-7 shooting on 3-point attempts. Jenkins, who scored a career-high 19 in the previous game, an 83-74 win at St. John's on December 20, has connected on 10-of-13 3-pointers over the last two games.
 
Tim Coleman added 12 points and Ky Howard scored 10 for the Highlanders. Coleman was the leading rebounder for NJIT with 6 and Terrence Smith and freshman Mohamed Bendary pulled down 5 rebounds apiece. Howard had a game-best 5 assists and Smith was the game leader in steals with 3.
 
Stony Brook set the tone early, scoring its 14 unanswered points in opening 4:30, before Coleman's 3-pointer finally put the Highlanders on the board with 15:14 left in the first half. To that point, Stony Brook had shot 6-for-8 from the floor, while NJIT missed its first five shots.
 
The Stony Brook lead stayed comfortably in double-digits before NJIT made its only successful push of the night with a 14-8 rally in a span of 6:09 that trimmed the visitors' 22-7 lead to 30-21, capped by a pair of Rob Ukawuba free throws with 5:02 left.
 
Stony Brook's lead stayed at 9 points until Lucas Woodhouse made two free throws at the 3:42 mark to trigger an 11-3 finish by the Seawolves, who took a 41-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
Warney was game-high scorer at the break with 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while Sekunda had 9 pointrs, including the only made 3-pointer of the opening half for the visitors, who were 16-for-24 (67 percent inside the arc).
 
NJIT, meanwhile had the unusual scoring line of two 2-point buckets, four 3-pointers and 8 free throws. Jenkins (3-for-3 from downtown) had a team-leading 9 points. Tim Coleman, who made the remaining three for the Highlanders, had 7 points.
 
Stony Brook did not waiver at any time in the second half, shooting better than 62 percent from the field (16-for-26), including 5-for-7 from distance after going just 1-for-7 on threes in the opening half. The Seawolves, who were 6-for-12 on first-half free throws, shot 5-for-6 in the second half.

The final result for SBU was 33-for-57 shooting from the floor by the visitors for the whole game, with Stony Brook's .579 field goal percentage representing the most accurate game for an NJIT opponent this season. To add some perspective, Kentucky, now ranked #10 in one national poll and #11 in the other, shot 46 percent vs. the Highlanders and Providence, now #12 in one poll and #13 in the other, shot 42 percent against NJIT.
 
Leading by 17 at halftime, Stony Brook outscored the Highlanders 10-4 in the opening 3:16 of the second half for a 51-28 advantage after Warney finished a fast break with a layup. The visitors later took their biggest lead of the night, 70-40, on a layup-free throw 3-point play by Puriefoy with 11:37 to play.
 
NJIT later got as close as 20 points before the final score settled at 83-61.
 
The Highlanders, who had played just once between December 13 and Monday night, began a stretch of three games in six days, starting with Monday's game vs. Stony Brook. The Highlanders will bus to Loretto, PA, for a 7 o'clock game at Saint Francis on Wednesday night and they will be back home on January 2 to host UMBC at 4 pm.