DURHAM - The University of New Hampshire men's basketball team, looking for a third straight win, came up just short on Saturday and dropped a 56-54 decision to Stony Brook at Lundholm Gymnasium.

The Wildcats played good defense in posting wins at Binghamton and Maine on the road leading into Saturday and for the most part played well defensively against Stony Brook, too.

But one stretch at the start of the second half proved costly.

The Seawolves went on a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the half to take charge of the game.

"We played real good defense in the first half and just couldn't stop them there," said UNH coach Bill Herrion. "They were going inside and scoring too easily."

The Wildcats nearly overcame a tough shooting night by their leading scorers: Chandler Rhoads was 4-for-14, Ferg Myrick was 3-for-14 and Patrick Konan 1-for-9.

Senior center Chris Matagrano, who has been playing very well, scored nine points and had a couple of rebounds. Matagrano picked up his second foul less than two minutes into the game and was limited to 15 minutes by foul trouble.

Matagrano had been in double figures in points the last five games. The only time he had at least 10 points before that stretch was in the first game of the season.

The Seawolves held on to first place in America East with the win. They are 17-5 overall and 8-1 in the league.

The Wildcats are 6-15 and 2-7.

Three of UNH's next four games are on the road.

The Wildcats are at Vermont on Wednesday night. They are off next weekend and then play UMBC at home on Feb. 13.


alessels@unionleader.com