Virgil Gray ripped the nets for 26 points in just 25 minutes of action against Centenary.

HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 24, 2007) – Five different players scored in double-figures and three eclipsed the 20-point plateau as the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s basketball team routed Centenary College, 108-70, on Wednesday evening at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J.  The Ducks scored 62 points while shooting 66.7 percent (24-for-36) from the field in the second half as they collected their fourth win in a row to improve to 13-4 (6-2 Skyline Conference) on the year.

Stevens, which has won 10 of 11 games, also moved into a tie for first place in the Skyline Conference with Manhattanville College, Farmingdale State College and SUNY College at Old Westbury following the victory.  The Ducks were led by sophomore guard Virgil Gray II (Elmwood Park, N.J.), who had 26 points on 10-for-15 shooting in just 25 minutes of action.  Junior guard Waleed Farid (Woodside, N.Y.) added 25 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals in 32 minutes.  Farid was 9-for-14 from the floor and made six three-pointers in the game as Stevens surpassed the 100-point barrier for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, sophomore guard Anthony Passalacqua (Staten Island, N.Y.) poured in 22 points on 9-for-16 shooting.  He made four three-pointers for the Ducks, who went 11-for-25 (44.0 percent) from downtown as a team in the contest.  Senior forward Michael Collins (Bronx, N.Y.) finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.  Freshman guard Matt Higgins (Freehold, N.J.) tallied 10 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench.  Senior guard Floyd Morris (East Windsor, N.J.) led all players with nine assists, which equaled his season-high.

Centenary (3-12, 1-6 Skyline) received 26 points from sophomore guard Alex Kuchar (Rutherford, N.J.).  Freshman guard Kyle Lendach (Dunellen, N.J.) added 14 points and three rebounds in the loss.  Senior guard Kyle Warner (Severn, Md.) had 12 points, six assists and three rebounds on the evening.

Leading 57-43 with just over 17 minutes to go in the game, Stevens rattled off a 19-5 run in the span of 3:27 to open a 28-point advantage.  Passalacqua scored the first five points for the Ducks.  Gray had eight points, and Farid totaled six points in the spurt as Stevens opened a 76-48 lead with 13:37 remaining.

With the Ducks ahead 82-56 with 11 minutes left on the clock, Stevens blew the game wide open with a 16-2 run over a four-minute stretch.  Farid scored eight points in the burst.  He finished off the run off with back-to-back three-pointers as the Ducks extended their lead to 40 points (98-58) with 6:55 to play.  In the first 14:02 of the second half, Stevens scored 55 points.

For the game, the Ducks shot 60.3 percent (44-for-73) from the floor.  They also had 30 assists as a team.  Centenary, which has lost five games in a row, connected on 24 of 58 (41.4 percent) field-goal attempts in the contest.  The Cyclones were 11 of 31 (35.5 percent) from downtown.

Of note, the 22 combined made three-pointers in the game set a new Canavan Arena record.  The previous mark of 21 total three-pointers was accomplished on three separate occasions.  The two teams also combined for 178 total points, which was 10 points shy of equally the Canavan record for most points in a game.  The Ducks’ 108 points was six short of tying the team record for points in a game.  On November 19, 1994, Stevens scored 114 points against Cooper Union.

Coming up on Saturday, the Ducks will travel to Kings Point, N.Y. to take on the United States Merchant Marine Academy at 2 p.m.