Stony Brook

Chris Martin scored a game-high 19 points and Stony Brook overtook visiting Lehigh, 71-50, last night for its third straight win. Bryan Dougher followed with 13 points for the Seawolves (4-3), who trailed 27-22 at the half but outscored Lehigh, 49-23, after the break. Desmond Adedeji added 11 points. Marquis Hall topped the Mountain Hawks (5-3) with 13 points, three more than Rob Keefer. A jumper by Zahir Carrington gave the visitors a 40-32 lead at 11:11 of the second half, and Stony Brook gained the lead for good with nine unanswered points on Adedeji's layup at 8:32.

Not a lot was at stake for the Villanova Wildcats last night. That's not how they played. Judging by the intensity the players and their screaming fans showed in a 78-35 season-opening win over Stony Brook at the Pavilion, the team may as well have been facing No. 1 Duke rather than a team just six seasons into being a Division I program. Season openers, no matter the opponent, are like that when a team is ranked fifth in the nation. "They could have taken some possessions off, and that's why I was really pleased," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Senior Carson Puriefoy, an Inquirer first-team all-South Jersey point guard from Bishop Eustace, has made an oral commitment to attend Stony Brook. According to NCAA rules, high school basketball recruits can begin signing letters of intent on Nov. 9. Puriefoy averaged 21.5 points and helped lead Eustace to a 21-7 record and the No. 4 spot in the final Inquirer South Jersey top 10 rankings. He said he chose Stony Brook after making an official visit to the school over the weekend.

Heather Bianchini, who started at third base last season as a junior and helped lead the Council Rock softball team to the Suburban One League National Conference Patriot Division title, has given a verbal commitment to play next season on scholarship for Stony Brook, an NCAA Division I school. An all-area selection by The Inquirer and an all-Patriot Division player, Bianchini hit .304 as the Indians' cleanup hitter. Bianchini, who expects to play second base for Stony Brook, made her commitment Monday.

Adam Nowak can't get enough of the big-school feeling. He's now enrolled at Father Judge High, which boasts more boys than any Catholic League school, and he has committed to spend his college years at Stony Brook, a Division I-AA school on Long Island. "I just like that atmosphere," he said. "I'll get to meet a lot of new people. " Almost a small country's worth - SB's enrollment is 22,000-plus. Nowak, a 6-3, 225-pound linebacker and first-team Daily News All-City selection, yesterday made an oral commitment to the Seawolves even though he has not yet enjoyed an official visit.

Lady Comfort scored a career-high 25 points, including 18 in the second half last night, to help Temple to a 72-58 nonconference victory over Stony Brook at the Liacouras Center. "Yeah, I felt more comfortable with the ball toward the end of the game," the 6-foot-2 junior said. "Lady was feeling it," added senior Kamesha Hairston. "Give the big girl the ball and let her go to work. " Hairston, who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds, was Temple's leader in the first half with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

After a long and painful season last year, Shane Clark showed last night he is ready to run and jump and defend and score the way his coach and Villanova teammates know he can. Clark, a 6-foot-7 junior forward who played high school ball at Cardinal Dougherty, came out of the box with a career-high 25 points and a game-high seven rebounds to lead the Wildcats to an 86-64 victory over Stony Brook in their season opener at the Pavilion. Clark looked nothing like the player who struggled last season with nagging pain in his right knee.

The Wings selected Stony Brook (N.Y.) University midfielder Kevin Crowley with the first overall pick in the NLL entry draft in Toronto yesterday. Crowley scored 131 goals and added 101 assists in 60 career games for Stony Brook. He is the only player in Stony Brook history to record 100 or more goals and assists, and one of just 40 players in Division I history to accomplish the feat. Additionally, Crowley is one of three players in America East Conference history to be a four-time first-team selection.

Virginia senior defenseman Ken Clausen was named an all-American by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association for the fourth straight year. Clausen is a Downingtown native and Hill School graduate. Virginia plays Duke in an NCAA semifinal Saturday in Baltimore. North Carolina midfielder Sean Delaney of Moorestown was named to the second team. Drexel sophomore goalkeeper Mark Manos was named to the third team. Manos is the first player from Drexel since 1971 to earn third-team status.

Carson Puriefoy isn't one to give in to sentimentality, but the Bishop Eustace senior point guard is definitely going to savor the final time he represents his high school in competition. That will occur Sunday when Puriefoy competes in the Al Carino Basketball Club of South Jersey's 35th annual all-star game, at 3 p.m. at Rutgers-Camden. "It's my last high school game, and 20 years from now, I will be able to tell my kids I played in this game," Puriefoy said before Monday night's all-star practice at his high school.

JORDAN THEODORE scored 21 points, Herb Pope had 20 and Seton Hall snapped an 11-game losing streak in the NIT by holding off visiting Stony Brook, 63-61, last night. The win is the first for the Pirates (21-12) in the event since 1956. Stony Brook (22-10), two-time regular-season champions of the American East Conference, didn't make it easy. Bryan Dougher had a three-pointer bounce off the rim with about 2 seconds to go, and Tommy Brenton had a rebound follow roll off the rim at the buzzer.

WICHITA STATE will be one of those mid-major teams that will be a chic pick come NCAA Tournament time. The Shockers roll into their conference tourney riding an eight-game winning streak and full of so much confidence that coach Gregg Marshall called them "a well-oiled machine. " The Missouri Valley is one of three conferences beginning its postseason tonight. America East Regular-season champ: Stony Brook has won 11 of 12 and is the first America East wire-to-wire winner since Vermont in 2007.

These four athletes are the top contenders to be the South Jersey Player of the Year in boys' basketball: Ron Curry, 6-3 senior guard, Paul VI: Averaging 16.3 points through Friday. Had 11 points, six assists, and four steals in a big win Thursday over Bishop Eustace. Scored 18 in a victory over Philadelphia power Roman Catholic. Has signed with James Madison. Xavier Lundy, 6-5 junior forward, Paulsboro: Averaging 20.4 points. Has led the Red Raiders to an undefeated regular season, 26-0.

Gloucester Catholic could be one of the best high school baseball teams in the nation this spring, and the Rams should have the chance to prove that on a national stage. Gloucester Catholic will return to play in the Bishop Gorman Easter Classic, April 11-14 in Las Vegas, coach Dennis Barth said Friday. The Rams finished 31-2 last season and were ranked No. 9 in the nation in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. They also were No. 23 in Baseball America's final Top 50. One of Gloucester Catholic's losses was to host Bishop Gorman in the annual tournament in Nevada that often features some of the top programs in the country.

Gloucester Catholic could be one of the best high school baseball teams in the country this spring, and the Rams should have the chance to prove that on a national stage. Gloucester Catholic will return to play in the Bishop Gorman Easter Classic, April 11-14 in Las Vegas, coach Dennis Barth said Friday. The Rams finished 31-2 last season and were ranked No. 9 in the country in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25. They also were No. 23 in Baseball America's final Top 50. One of Gloucester Catholic's losses was to host Bishop Gorman in the annual tournament in Nevada that often features some of the top programs in the country.

The season is still young, but the questions were already getting old. With the team held to a higher standard than most, among the most frequently asked question in this high school boys' basketball season was what has happened to Bishop Eustace? It probably isn't fair to ask a question of a team whose only loss has been to still-unbeaten Cherry Hill East, but this was a season of heightened expectations for the Crusaders. And for those asking that question, there is now a simple answer, at least for one night: nothing.

The season is still young, but the questions were already getting old. With the team held to a higher standard than most, among the most frequently asked questions in this high school boys' basketball season was what has happened to Bishop Eustace? It probably isn't fair to ask a question of a team whose only loss has been to still-unbeaten Cherry Hill East, but this was a season of heightened expectations for the Crusaders. And for those asking that question, there is now a simple answer, at least for one night: nothing.

The sneakers were a fashion statement, but the Bishop Eustace basketball team made its main point with its play. Wearing fluorescent orange sneakers with their white-with-black-trim home uniforms, the Crusaders took care of business with a hard-fought, 62-54 victory over Pennsauken in an Olympic Conference interdivision game on Friday night. Senior guard Carson Puriefoy and senior forward Sho DaSilva led the way for Bishop Eustace (1-0), the No. 1 team in The Inquirer South Jersey Top 10. Puriefoy, a 6-foot guard, collected 24 points along with five assists and three steals.