Northwestern beats Stony Brook 63-58

EVANSTON — John Shurna scored 20 points and freshman Dave Sobolewski added 16 as Northwestern remained undefeated with a 63-58 victory over Stony Brook on Friday.

With the score tied at 32 early in the second half, Northwestern (5-0) scored six straight points. Drew Crawford had a 3-point play, followed seconds later by a 3-pointer by Sobolewski as the Wildcats took a 38-32 lead. Sobolewski’s free throws with 9:11 to go made it 46-36 Northwestern.

Stony Brook (2-3) fought to within 55-52 with 2:47 remaining, but Northwestern’s JerShon Cobb sank a 3-pointer on an assist by Shurna with 1:24 to play to push the lead to six points. Dave Coley scored from the inside to bring the Seawolves to within 58-54 with 1:06 left.

Stony Brook could have gotten within one point, but the Seawolves missed two 3-pointers and then the front end of a one-and-one at the free-throw line.

Stony Brook scored the game’s first eight points before Reggie Hearn’s 3-pointer got Northwestern on the board. The Wildcats’ 14-0 run midway through the first half put them ahead 20-13. Northwestern led 30-28 at halftime.

Dallis Joyner and Leonard Hayes led Stony Brook with 13 points each. Bryan Dougher added 12 points and Coley had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Seawolves, who owned a 42-31 rebounding advantage including 17-5 on the offensive boards.

Crawford had 12 points and seven rebounds for Northwestern.

Northwestern was 12-18 from the free-throw line, while Stony Brook had just five attempts, making three.

This was the first meeting between Northwestern and Stony Brook from the America East Conference.

Northwestern will play at Georgia Tech on Tuesday in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Stony Brook returns to the court on Dec. 3 at Eastern Illinois.