STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Down just six at halftime, the Bucs surrendered a 21-point third quarter in a 41-21 loss at Stony Brook on Saturday. The loss drops CSU to 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the Big South, while SBU improves to 4-4, 3-0 and tied for first place in the Big South.

"Well, it wasn't the outcome we wanted, obviously," said Head Coach Jay Mills. "We compete to win. At the same time, I think we've learned a lot of life sessions this year and I think one of them is how to handle adversity and how to persist; to persevere. I've seen that from out team today. Even when the outcome was truly inevitable, our young men kept competing. I thought there was a lot of pride and things that the supporters of CSU football can be proud of as well."

Andrew Trudnowski had his most efficient performance, making his third start, completing 73 percent of his passes with a 22-30 mark. Trudnowski threw for 228 yards and a touchdown, and for the first time this season, did not throw an interception. DeMarcus Moon had 46 rushing yards on 17 carries, giving him 37 touches in the last two games.

Gerald Stevenson was the top receiver, hauling in 12 catches for 104 yards, the first player to have more than 10 receptions since he did so against Presbyterian College in 2009. The mark ties him for the fifth-most receptions in a single game in CSU history and is one shy of the school record. Stevenson only had one opportunity to return a kickoff, doing so for 10 yards, which gives him the Big South record for combined kick returns.

Mills had plenty of praise for Stevenson, despite the losing effort. "I'll tell you what - he's phenomenal. I usually don't single out individuals and I try to talk more as a team overall, but I'd do him a disservice if I didn't recognize that. He's an incredible player and there's no question about it that he's going to be receiving numerous votes for Big South Conference Player of the Year, and he's going to deserve that. And if he keeps going the way he's going we're going to be seeing him play football next year on Sundays."

Chris Patrick and Daniel Dieudonne led the team with nine tackles each, while Gabe Middlebrook blocked a field goal to start the second quarter and keep the game scoreless.

Stony Brook was led by Brock Jackolski and Miguel Maysonet on the ground, as the duo combined for 341 rushing yards and four touchdowns on the ground. Michael Coulter threw for an additional 145 yards, completing nine of his 11 passes on the day.

SBU held a 499-273 advantage in total yards, averaging a staggering 9.2 yards per play.

It took until the second quarter for someone to get on the board as the Bucs took advantage of a 13-play, 81-yard drive by the offense. It took two third-down conversions by CSU to keep the drive alive, with the second ending in a three-yard touchdown pass from Trudnowski to Josh Atkinson, his first touchdown reception of the year.

SBU came right back with two drives in the first quarter using big plays to earn a 13-7 lead going into halftime. Maysonet had two carries of at least 30 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown run on the first drive that pulled the Seawolves to within one, while Jackolski had a 55-yard carry on the go-ahead drive that ended with 0:39 left in the half. Maysonet capped off the drive with an eight-yard run to make it 13-7.

Out of halftime, Stony Brook opened up a huge lead, rushing for more than 100 yards in the quarter alone to go up 34-14. Maysonet put the ball in the end zone two more times on a nine-yard run and a 35-yard pass, while Jackolski got a one-yard run on the half's opening drive.

The first drive of the half was an impressive one for SBU as they went 66 yards in eight plays. The next two scoring drives took a combined six plays as the Seawolves opened up the 27 point lead, 34-7.

The Bucs did get points in the third quarter, scoring a touchdown thanks to the legs of Moon, who became the first player to rush for five touchdowns in a season since Collin Drafts and Kenny Harper in 2006, cutting the score to 34-14. It would not be his last score of the day, though, as he pulled to within one rushing touchdown of Drafts, who had seven that season.

Unfortunately for the Bucs, the fourth quarter appeared to hold a similar fate for the road team as Stony Brook moved the ball 73 yards in 5:29 to make it 41-14 as Jordan Gush made an outstanding one-handed catch in the end zone from 25 yards out.

A 31-yard pass to Kwame Krakue down the sideline and an incredible 20-yard catch over the defender by Stevenson kept the drive alive for CSU as they battled to the end. A fourth-down pass was knocked down because of a pass-interference penalty, setting up the Bucs with first and goal on the one yardline. Moon punched it in again, his second touchdown of the game, which made it 41-21 Seawolves with 4:24 left.

"I'm proud of the way we competed, the way they fought right up until the end," said Mills. "The offense had an 80-yard touchdown drive the last series they were on the field and the defense was able to slow them down and bring them to a stop at the end, so I thought they showed a lot of character. From perseverance comes character; from character comes hope, so I'm encouraged for the future both this year and in the future."

An onside kick attempt was unsuccessful by CSU, giving SBU the ball in good field position with time winding down. The Seawolves were able to move the ball into CSU territory, but did not find the endzone as time ran out.

The Bucs remain on the road, but step out of Big South play next weekend as they travel to SEC opponent Kentucky for a 12:30 kickoff in Lexington, Ky. Stony Brook travels to Presbyterian College next week as they continue to try and stake their claim to the Big South's first automatic bid.

Postgame Quotes - Coach Jay Mills (Video)
Postgame Quotes - Coach Jay Mills (Article)
Trudnowski to Atkinson Touchdown Pass (Courtesy of Adam Gutes, SBU Athletic Communications)
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