Virgil Gray led the Ducks with 15 points in their win over St. Joseph's College-L.I. on Saturday.

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (January 21, 2006) – Trailing by seven points with 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s basketball team out-scored St. Joseph’s College-L.I. 34-16 down the stretch to claim a 68-57 victory over the Golden Eagles on Saturday evening in Patchogue, N.Y.  With the win, the Ducks improved to 9-6 on the year, including 4-2 in the Skyline Conference.  St. Joseph’s fell to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in league play.

With the Golden Eagles leading 41-34 midway through the second half, Stevens began its charge with an 11-4 run in the span of 2:05.  Junior forward Michael Collins (Bronx, N.Y.) started things off for the Ducks by scoring six straight points.  Following a basket by junior guard Stephen Peters (Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y.), freshman guard Damien Palantino (Philadelphia, Pa.) knocked down a three-pointer to tie the score at 45-all.

The Ducks were not done though as they mounted two additional runs in the final five minutes to pull away.

Tied at 51-all, freshman guard Virgil Gray (Elmwood Park, N.Y.) made three of four free-throw attempts, and senior guard Isaac Moore (Phoenix, Ariz.) connected on a jumper as Stevens scored five straight points in the span of 1:15 to take a 56-51 lead with 3:22 remaining.

The Ducks put the game out of reach with a 12-2 burst over the final 2:47.  Junior forward Tim Williams (Selden, N.Y.) started things off for Stevens with a basket.  Junior guard Floyd Morris (East Windsor, N.Y.) made one of two attempts at the line.  Sophomore guard Waleed Farid (Woodside, N.Y.) followed with a jumper.  Williams made one of two free throws then connected on a jump shot.  Gray added a basket, and Morris closed out the scoring with two free throws with nine seconds to play.

Stevens was led by Gray, who finished with a team-high 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting from the floor.  Williams connected on five of 10 field-goal attempts en route to scoring 13 points.  He also pulled down 10 rebounds for the Ducks.  Farid tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.  Morris handed out six assists in 25 minutes of action.

St. Joseph’s received 15 points and six rebounds from junior guard/forward Jorge Martinez (Brentwood, N.Y.).  Sophomore forward/center Chris Niblock (Bayport, N.Y.) added 13 points and six rebounds.

For the game, Stevens shot 41.0 percent from the floor, but the key for the Ducks was that they connected on 14 of 29 field-goal attempts in the second half (48.3 percent).  St. Joseph’s was limited to 34.0 percent shooting for the game.  The Golden Eagles also turned the ball over 25 times.

Stevens will be back in action on Monday when the Ducks travel to Newburgh, N.Y., to take on high-scoring Mount Saint Mary College (15-2), which has won 10 straight games and sits atop the Skyline Conference with a league mark of 6-1.  Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at the Kaplan Center.