ORONO — Every Thursday during the season, Stony Brook practices a Hail Mary pass.

“We call it Big Ben,” said Seawolves Coach Chuck Priore. “It’s always unsuccessful.”

But when it mattered most in the regular-season finale, Stony Brook was finally successful. Joe Carbone threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Harrison Jackson on the game’s final play to lift Stony Brook to a stunning 20-19 victory over Maine at Alfond Stadium.

“We played to the last play,” said Priore. “These two guys to my right (Carbone and Jackson) got it done but they’ll tell you the left tackle had to protect, the right tackle had to protect, and the guy upstairs had to be on your side.”

Carbone spiked the ball to stop the clock with six seconds left. Then he took a shotgun snap and lofted a high pass to Jackson in the right corner of the end zone. Jackson outleaped four Maine defenders for the catch, falling to the ground while they fell onto him and holding onto the ball during the ensuing scrum. The play was reviewed and upheld.

Jackson, who had dropped a fourth-down pass on Stony Brook’s previous series, was simply glad to have the opportunity.

“I didn’t believe in myself as much as my teammates did after that (previous) drive,” he said. “Just to be out there and have Joe trust me to throw the ball to me, I’m blessed.”

Maine sophomore cornerback Manny Patterson, who played a strong game with five pass break-ups, was in on the jump ball.

“I don’t even know what happened on that play,” he said. “I have to go back on the film and rewatch.”

And learn from what happened.

“At the end of the day, they wanted to make the play,” he said. “They’re a playoff team, we’re not. If we want to be a playoff team, we’ve got to make plays like that.”

Maine held Carbone to 41 passing yards through three quarters. He threw for 181 in the fourth.

“They finished,” said Patterson. “That’s something we need to do, we just need to finish every game. We play tough and then somehow we end up falling apart. But we’re going to find a way.”

STONY BROOK lost its best wide receiver, Ray Bolden, in the second quarter after he was tackled by Deshawn Stevens on a 1-yard completion. Bolden, who has nine touchdown catches this season, was helped off the field, not putting any pressure on his right leg.

Then, with 9:47 remaining, the Seawolves lost one of their best defensive players, rover Tyrice Beverette, when he received a game disqualification for targeting.

MAINE WAS without two of its top players for much of the game, too. Wide receiver and kick returner Earnest Edwards, who caught a 40-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, didn’t play after early in the second quarter because of illness. Senior cornerback Najee Goode, who has battled injuries most of the year, did not play after the first quarter.