Stony Brook came a long way to get the biggest victory in school history.
Jameel Warney banked in a short runner with 30 seconds left to give Stony Brook its first lead and the Long Island university overcame a 16-point deficit to stun No. 13 Washington 61-57 on Sunday night.
"This is our biggest win in program history," said Warney, who scored over Robert Upshaw, the nation's leading shot-blocker. "It give us more confidence as the season go on."
It's only the second win ever against a team from a power conference for the America East school, which knocked off Penn State in 2006.
After Stony Brook trailed by as much as 16, Carson Puriefoy hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 1:07 left to pull the Seawolves (7-5) even at 57.
"I'm a confident player, I know I can make shots, big shots," said Puriefoy, who went 2 of 12 from the field. "I love to take the big shot, but I'm really glad I have great teammates around me (to) pick up the slack throughout the game."
Stony Brook finished on a 17-2 run, holding Washington scoreless during the final 3:41. The Huskies (11-1) responded to Puiefoy's tying shot with a turnover and then completely missed the hoop on their attempt following Warney's go-ahead bucket.
Warney finished with 15 points, and Kameron Mitchell added 12 on 4-of-5 3-point shooting.
Stony Brook overcame a poor shooting performance in the first half when it shot 2 of 9 from beyond the arc. The Seawolves started 3 for 15 from the floor and didn't hit a 3-pointer until their sixth attempt.
"I thought we were getting decent looks," coach Steve Pikiell said. "Certainly, in a game like this against a great team, you're not going to get a lot better. I love their defense, I think they're real good defensively, so I told our guys, you got to take the first one that becomes available."
The Huskies, who were looking to get off to their best start ever under 13th-year coach Lorenzo Romar, had a double-digit lead for much of the night. Nigel Williams-Goss scored six straight points early in the second half to spark an 8-0 run that gave Washington a 47-31 lead. Stony Brook answered with a 9-2 run to stay within striking distance.
Upshaw had 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for Washington. Nigel Williams-Goss also scored 10 points for the Huskies, but committed the costly late turnovers.
"Mentally, we just weren't there," Romar said. "And with so much at stake, you wonder why not. Obviously, me as the head coach, should have had our guys better prepared to go out and finish this up, but I didn't do a good enough job, obviously."
TIP-INS
Stony Brook: Stony Brook won for the first time in seven road games this season. It was outrebounded, 47-45, by Washington, but the 23-ranked rebounding team in the nation still grabbed 45, more than its average of 40.7.
Washington: Robert Upshaw had four blocks to push his season total to 55, 12 away from the Washington single-season record of 67.
KEY STAT
Stony Brook scored 19 points off turnovers, a statistic that Romar wasn't pleased to see.
"In a game like this, that can't happen," Romar said. "We only had 12 turnovers, but they were crucial and led to buckets by the other team."
BIG-TIME SHOOTING
Mitchell proved to be an important piece for the Seawolves by steadying a poor-shooting performance by the team. Mitchell made three 3-pointers during the late Stony Brook run, continually finding himself with wide open looks.
