By all accounts, the Stony Brook men’s basketball team turned in a stellar season. The Seawolves (21-10, 12-4 America East) captured 20 or more victories for the fourth consecutive year, defeated a nationally ranked and undefeated Washington squad on the road, and tied for second in the America East regular season standings, carrying the three-seed into the conference tournament.

However, for a team that was picked to win the AE crown during the preseason and has earned the one or two seed in the conference tournament for three consecutive years, dropping four conference games during 2014-15 appeared to be a letdown. But for those inside the program, the regular season was an overwhelming success.

“I felt good [about it],” Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said of his team’s season. “We lost four starters from last year’s team so we had a whole new team basically … We played our best non-conference schedule ever. We finished 12-4 in league play. I think we had a good non-conference schedule, played well during the conference season and now we have to continue doing that into the postseason.”

The one returning starter from last year’s squad — junior forward Jameel Warney — is one of the most intimidating players in the entire conference. The 6-foot-8 Plainfield, New Jersey, native was named the America East Player of the Year for the second consecutive season on Monday, and picked up his first AE Defensive Player of the Year award in the process. Warney is averaging 16.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game in 2014-15, all of which rank first in the conference. He currently ranks fifth in the entire country in rebounding and his 20 double-doubles on the season are the most in the nation.

After starting just 12 games as a sophomore, junior guard Carson Puriefoy teamed with Warney to become one of the most feared guard-big man tandems in the AE. Puriefoy averaged 13.9 points per game while dishing out 3.4 assists and was named to the AE First-Team All-Conference squad on Monday. He also developed a reputation as a ferocious defender, leading SBU with 30 steals on the season.

“We have good leadership from that junior class,” Pikiell said. “They are both first-team all-league guys and I am just most excited that they are both juniors and are both back next year.”

The Seawolves opened their non-conference schedule dropping six of their first 11 games, but have since been on a roll. Stony Brook has won 16 of its last 20 and enter the AE tournament on a six-game winning streak.

SBU dominated on its home floor this season, compiling a 12-2 record on Long Island, however the team struggled on the road, going just 8-8. Fortunately for the team, the Seawolves will play their first-round America East tournament game at home.

In previous seasons, one conference school hosted the entirety of the tournament’s first two rounds on its campus. This year, under a new format voted on by the AE coaches, the higher seed will play at home for every tournament game.

“Since I’ve been in the league I’ve never had a home game,” Pikiell said. “We have never hosted as a University. I’ve been to Binghamton, I’ve been to Albany … I’ve been everywhere. To have our fans and to have our band and our cheerleaders and all that and our community come and see a meaningful game in March, I think it’s great for our program.”

Despite all of its recent success, SBU has failed to ever qualify for the NCAA tournament and will look to capitalize on the new system when the team takes on Binghamton in the first round. While the Seawolves defeated the Bearcats, 61-54, in the Events Center on Jan. 25 and then again on Long Island on Feb. 25 by a score of 64-52, Pikiell’s squad will not overlook BU.

“Binghamton’s been playing good basketball,” Pikiell said. “They are a talented group, well coached. It will certainly be a challenging game for us.”

If Stony Brook defeats the Bearcats, they will then either travel to second-seeded Vermont or host seventh-seeded UMBC in the semifinal round on Sunday.

Tip-off for SBU’s first round match-up against Binghamton is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Long Island Federal Credit Union Arena.