Petras late jumper, Stony Brook upsets Rutgers 75-73 in OT (Dec 22, 2017)
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) Jakub Petras hadn't shot a mid-range jumper in a game all season. He picked a good time to take his first.
The 6-foot-11 Petras hit a shot from the right elbow with .02 seconds left in overtime to give Stony Brook the upset over Rutgers 75-73 on Friday night.
''I saw my point guard Jaron Cornish driving the baseline, he kind of got stopped. My man went and helped a little bit. He threw it to me,'' Petras said. ''I thought he was going to travel. I really thought he was going to travel. I saw the clock. I was kind of looking for another shot, but I saw the clock and I saw the man coming at me, I pumped faked and took one dribble and I saw wide open space so I just shot it.''
Petras wasn't the only one who thought Cornish could have traveled. When the replay was shown on the videoboard, the 4,675 fans booed as Cornish appeared to travel on the baseline before his pass to Petras.
''I don't know,'' Cornish said when asked if he traveled. ''They didn't call it and I got it to Jake and he made a good shot. It is what it is.''
The Seawolves (5-8) were led by Akwasi Yeboah's 21 points and Cornish had his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Deshawn Freeman scored 18 points to lead Rutgers while Geo Baker overcame a sluggish first half to score 15.
Rutgers looked like it was going to escape with a victory in regulation before Stony Brook scored five points in the final seven seconds. Cornish would steal an inbound pass from Eugene Omoruyi and drain a 3-pointer with three seconds left to send the game to overtime, 64-64.
''We knew we had the possession arrow, so initially we were trying to get a steal or a jump ball. We didn't want to foul right away. It was kind of a broken play in the sense that we were just trying to pressure or deny, and luckily it bounced right to him, he took two dribbles to the corner and threw up a shot,'' coach Jeff Boals said. ''I was standing right there and it looked good. It was a big-time play on his part.''
While Rutgers (10-4) went into halftime with a 23-22 lead, they didn't score for the final 2:45 as Stony Brook closed the half on a 7-0 run.
Stony Brook would tie the game at 28, 30 and 32, before taking a 35-33 lead after UC Iroegbu hit a 3-pointer with 12:16 remaining. However, Freeman would answer with a 3-pointer of his own on the next possession to give Rutgers the 36-35 lead. Stony Brook retook the lead after a pair of free throws before Baker's 3-pointer put Rutgers ahead 39-37.
Stony Brook was able to tie the game again at 41 and 43 before Shaquille Doorson gave Rutgers a 46-43 lead on an old-fashioned 3-point play. Stony Brook was able to keep it close for the final seven minutes before a 5-0 run in the final seconds send the game to overtime, which was Stony Brook's first since 2015, when they took Vanderbilt to overtime. It was the first overtime win for the Seawolves since 2013, when they beat Detroit in triple overtime.
''You get what you deserve in basketball,'' Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. ''This was a tough week and we knew going into it off the big win (over No. 23 Seton Hall), it was going to be difficult. We didn't do a great job today. We missed a lot of free throws, lost some untimely possessions.''
The win is the first win over a Power 5 team for Stony Brook.
''It just means we can compete with anyone,'' Yeboah said. ''We know how good we are. We just have to go out and fix little things, and honestly, the sky is the limit for us. I feel like if we play hard and play the right way, we can beat a lot of teams and have a lot of upsets.''
BIG PICTURE
Stony Brook: While the Seawolves are three games below .500, they have played a tough non-conference schedule for an America East team, including at No. 2 Michigan State and UConn as well as a game against Maryland.
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights have one more tuneup before re-entering Big Ten play. The restart of conference play will be crucial for Rutgers as it's already 0-2 in the Big Ten. Things won't be easy as Rutgers goes to No. 16 Purdue, hosts Wisconsin before traveling to No. 2 Michigan State.
FAMILIAR FACES
Pikiell was Stony Brook's coach from 2005-2016, so a several Seawolves players were either recruited by or played for the second-year Rutgers coach.
''It was more motivation to come out and show that we're good enough and beat them,'' Yeboah said. ''I just wanted that win so bad because of the type of relationship type of thing when the old coach moves on, you just want to show him you're good and you can compete with anyone.''
1,000 POINT CLUB
Mike Williams became the 43rd player to score 1,000 points for Rutgers. He achieved the mark on a nice underhand layup in overtime.
FREE THROW STRUGGLES
Rutgers has struggled from the charity stripe all season, shooting 63 percent. They were even worse against Stony Brook, hitting just 8 of 19 from the line.
UP NEXT
Stony Brook: The Seawolves finish their non-conference schedule when they host Norfolk State on Saturday.
Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights close out non-conference when they host Hartford Thursday night.
