Anthony Passalacqua scored 19 points in the Ducks' first-ever NCAA tournament win.

MAHWAH, N.J. (March 2, 2007) – Sophomore guard Anthony Passalacqua (Staten Island, N.Y.) connected on five three-pointers and scored a game-high 19 points as Stevens Institute of Technology posted a 68-57 win over 18^th-ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute during the opening round of the 2007 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship on Friday at Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J.  Making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, Stevens (22-6) advanced to the second round to face Ramapo on Saturday at 7 p.m.  There will be a fan bus (first-come, first-serve) leaving from Jonas Hall at 5 p.m.

Junior guard Waleed Farid ( Woodside, N.Y. ) totaled 14 points in the victory.  Sophomore guard Virgil Gray II ( Elmwood Park, N.J. ) added 11 points.  Freshman guard Matt Higgins (Freehold, N.J.) chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds off the bench.  Senior guard Floyd Morris ( East Windsor, N.J. ) recorded six points and eight assists while only turning the ball over only once.  In the process, Morris moved into second place on the career list for assists (423) at Stevens.  Alan Kashian owns the record with 428 assists from 1994-97.

WPI (22-4) was led by senior guard Ryan Cain ( Webster, Mass. ), who had 15 points and five rebounds in the loss.  Junior forward Antoine Coleman ( Everett, Mass. ) contributed 11 points and three rebounds.

Trailing 16-15 with less than nine minutes to go in the first half, Stevens used a 12-1 run in the span of 3:44 to open a 27-17 lead with 4:40 left in the period.  Passalacqua had seven of his 13 first-half points in the spurt.  The Ducks led 31-24 at the break.

Stevens extended the margin to 47-34 with just under 13 minutes remaining as Passalacqua drained his fifth three-pointer of the game.  Trailing 54-39 with less than eight minutes to play, the Engineers scored 10 unanswered points to draw to within 54-49 with 5:15 left on the clock.

Down the stretch, the Ducks continued to make plays as they scored 14 of the final 22 points to pull out the 11-point victory.  Farid's steal and subsequent free throw put the game out of reach as Stevens went on top 61-52 with 1:41 remaining.

For the game, the Ducks shot 44.7 percent (21-for-47) from the floor.  WPI connected on 19 of 47 field-goal attempts (40.4 percent) on the evening.  Stevens made eight three-pointers to just three by the Engineers.  The Ducks also owned a slight edge (36-32) on the glass.

Ramapo advanced to the second round with a 77-68 win over York College in Friday's other game.  The Roadrunners reached the NCAA tournament by defeating New Jersey City University to claim the New Jersey Athletic Conference title last week.