HOBOKEN, N.J. (December 9, 2007) – Junior guard Anthony Passalacqua scored 16 of his 19 points and knocked down four three-pointers in the second half as the 17th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team remained unbeaten with a come-from-behind 83-74 win over Ithaca College on Sunday afternoon at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Passalacqua, who had five assists and three steals, shot 6-for-10 from the floor and knocked down five three-pointers in all as the Ducks ran their record to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the Empire 8.

Junior guard Virgil Gray added 19 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists for Stevens. Senior forward Tim Williams finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. He was 5-for-6 from the field on the afternoon. Sophomore guard Matt Higgins knocked down 5-of-10 field-goal attempts and had 12 points in the victory. He added eight rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Senior guard Waleed Farid totaled nine assists, eight points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard George Greco chipped in with eight points and six assists.

The Bombers (4-2, 2-1 Empire 8) were led by junior guard/forward Sean Leahy (Syracuse, N.Y.), who amassed 21 points, five rebounds and two assists. Leahy was 9-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-6 from downtown. Junior guard/forward Brendan Rogers (Liverpool, N.Y.) finished with 17 points, five assists, two rebounds and two steals. Senior guard/forward Dominic Scanlon (Oswego, N.Y.) chipped in with 11 points. Sophomore center Tom Brown (Bayport, N.Y.) ended up with nine points and seven rebounds.

Neither team was able to take control during a tightly-contested first half that featured eight ties and 11 lead changes. With the game knotted at 38-all with less than three minutes to go in the period, Ithaca scored the final four points to grab a 42-38 advantage, which marked the largest lead of the period for either team. Leahy, who had 14 points in the half, started things off with a made jumper. Scanlon added a lay-up with 1:31 remaining. The Bombers owned a 23-17 advantage on the board in the opening stanza.

Gray kept the Ducks in the game by scoring 11 early points. Ithaca suffered a big blow when junior guard Sean Burton (Yorkville, N.Y.) was injured with 13:57 remaining in the first half. Burton, who was averaging over 22 points per game this season entering Sunday's action, did not return to the game. The score was tied 12-12 at the time of his injury.

Passalacqua opened the second half with three three-pointers in the first 4:42 of play as the Ducks took a 51-50 lead. The Bombers answered right back with a 7-1 run to open a five-point margin (57-52) with just over 12 minutes to go. Stevens responded with a game-changing 14-2 spurt over a six-minute stretch to take control. Gray got things going with a lay-up. Passalacqua and Greco made long three-pointers in the run as the Ducks went on top 66-59 with 5:45 remaining. Greco capped the rally with a steal at mid-court and a breakaway lay-up.

Ithaca would not go away though as it closed to within 70-67 on a three-pointer by Scanlon with just over two minutes left. Passalacqua halted the comeback with a jumper. Then, Farid came up with a steal and made two free throws to extend the margin to 74-67 with 1:24 to play. Down the stretch, Stevens continued to pull away and went on top 79-69 following two free throws by Passalacqua with 40 seconds remaining.

The Ducks were able to pull out the victory with a solid second-half effort in which they out-scored the Bombers 45-32 over the final 20 minutes. After intermission, Stevens shot 50.0 percent (14-for-28) from the field and 80.0 percent (12-for-15) from the foul line. The Ducks made 30-of-62 field-goal attempts (48.4 percent) in the game. Stevens had 16 steals in the contest.

Ithaca was 11-for-28 (39.3 percent) from the field in the second period. The Bombers shot 45.2 percent (28-for-62) overall and committed 22 turnovers in the game.

Sunday's game marked the end of the first semester for Stevens. The Ducks will return to action on January 4 when they take on Rochester Institute of Technology at 8 p.m. in Rochester, N.Y.