Four times in the past five years, Stony Brook has reached the America East title game only to fall a win shy of its first-ever NCAA tournament bid.
None of the previous losses were quite as brutal as what the Seawolves endured Saturday afternoon.
When the rebound of an errant shot caromed out to Albany's Peter Hooley at the top of the key in the dying seconds of Saturday's game, the junior guard did not waste his chance. He buried a top of the key 3-pointer with two seconds left, giving the top-seeded Great Danes a 51-50 victory in a game they hadn't led since early in the first half.
Hooley's monumental shot sends Albany (24-8, 15-1) to the NCAA tournament for the second consecutive season. It also was an emotional moment for him and his family since he lost his mother to cancer earlier this season.
While Albany celebrates a win that will be remembered for a long time, Stony Brook (23-11, 12-4) begins another long offseason pondering what might have been. The Seawolves have been the America East's top seed three times in the past six years and have been a top three seed two other times during that stretch, yet they have not been able to win when it matters most in the conference tournament.
They lost by nine to Albany in last year's title game. They fell by two to Albany in the semifinals as the top seed two years ago. The two years before that, they lost close games to Vermont and Boston University in the America East title game.
It looked like this might be the day Stony Brook finally got over the hump when the Seawolves were still leading by seven with their best player at the free throw line and less than three minutes to go in the second half. Jameel Warney missed his free throw and then missed two more a minute later, aiding the Albany comeback bid.
Carson Puriefoy could have put Stony Brook up three with 17 seconds to go had he sank both his free throws, but his second one would not fall. That paved the way for Hooley's heroics and more heartbreak for the Seawolves.
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