HOBOKEN, N.J. – Sophomore forward Kenny Lane tipped in a missed shot at the buzzer to lead Mount St. Mary College to an 81-79 win over Stevens Institute of Technology on Monday in a Skyline Conference men’s basketball game at the Canavan Arena.
Lane’s basket capped a 16-point second-half rally and helped the Blue Knights (8-1/3-0 Skyline) extend their winning streak to eight games. Lane finished with game-highs of 27 points and 12 rebounds. Stevens, which led for nearly the entire game, falls to 0-8 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
Following a timeout with 24 seconds left, Mount St. Mary worked the clock down for the final shot. Freshman guard Keith Letendre drove to the basket and missed a running jumper. Junior guard Shawn Coffey missed a tip-in before Lance beat the buzzer with his winning tip.
Stevens held a 16-point lead in the second half on three occasions, the last coming on a driving layup by senior forward Jon Almonte (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) with 15:30 left. Mount St. Mary trimmed the lead to nine, but back-to-back 3-pointers by freshman guard Floyd Morris (East Windsor, N.J./Peddie School) and senior guard Nik Rao (Franklin Park, N.J./Rutgers Prep) gave the Ducks a 66-51 lead with 11:31 left.
Trailing 75-67 with 5:32 left, Mount St. Mary used a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to take a two-point lead. Lane had six during the stretch and sophomore forward Roberto King hit a short jumper with 1:10 left to give the Blue Knights their first lead since the 11:18 mark of the first half, 79-77. Stevens tied the game at 79-79 on a layup by senior forward Eric Stanley (New York, N.Y./Solebury Prep) with 52 seconds left. The teams traded turnovers in the final minute prior to Lane’s game-winning basket.
Almonte led Stevens with 26 points while Stanley added 16 points and seven rebounds. He was limited to just 20 minutes due to foul trouble. Morris added eight points and three assists off the bench.
Letendre scored 22 points off the bench for Mount St. Mary. King and junior guard Brendan Twomey added 10 points each.
Stevens returns to action on Thursday when it hosts Old Westbury in an 8 p.m. game at the Canavan Arena.
