PATCHOGUE, N.Y. - Sophomore guard Ryan Kander (Belle Harbor, N.Y./Xaverian) led three Stevens players in double figures with 16 points, but the Ducks fell to St. Joseph's-Patchogue, 71-52, on Saturday in a Skyline Conference game.
Sophomore guard Jimmy Dominkewicz (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) had 13 points while freshman guard Garrick Todechine (Phoenix, Ariz./Sunny Slope) scored 10 points off the bench. Sophomore forward Michael Collins (Bronx, N.Y./Trinity Pawling) had a game-high 10 rebounds and also blocked seven shots.
Stevens fell behind 9-1 in the opening minutes, but Todechine came off the bench to ignite a 14-5 run that gave the Ducks the lead. He scored the team's first basket on a short jumper at the 13:33 mark and then buried a 3-pointer two minutes later. Kander also had a 3-pointer and Collins connected on a jumper at the 8:22 mark that gave Stevens a 15-14 lead.
St. Joseph's then surged ahead with an 11-0 run in the next 2:19. Junior Mike Massa gave the Golden Eagles the lead with a pair of free throws at the 8:06 mark. Junior Patrick Eagan then connected on 3-pointers on consecutive trips. Massa capped the run with a conventional three-point play with 6:03 left that gave St. Joseph's a 25-15 lead.
Stevens trailed 41-24 early in the second half. The Ducks clawed their way back within seven points, 59-52, on a conventional three-point play by Dominkewicz with 2:53 left. Stevens fouled St. Joseph's down the stretch, trying to cut into the lead, but the Golden Eagles made 12 of 14 free throw attempts in the final 2:33. Eagan, who finished with a game-high 24 points, went 9-for-10 at the line during that stretch. St. Joseph's scored the final 12 points of the game to pull away.
For the game, St. Joseph's was 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from 3-point territory and 21-for-24 (87.5 percent) from the free throw line. Stevens was 7-for-14 (50.0 percent) from 3-point range, but just 7-for-16 (43.8 percent) from the line.
The Ducks are back in action on Monday, January 26, with a 7 p.m. game at Mount St. Mary College.
