ROCHESTER, N.Y. (January 4, 2008) – After having not played a game since December 9, the 13th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team opened 2008 with a 91-85 loss to Rochester Institute of Technology on Friday evening at the Clark Gymnasium in Rochester, N.Y. The setback was the first of the season for the Ducks, who fell to 8-1 overall and 4-1 in Empire 8 action. The Tigers improved to 6-5 on the year and 2-3 in conference play.
Junior guard Virgil Gray led Stevens with 22 points, five rebounds, and three assists. Junior guard Anthony Passalacqua contributed 15 points and made three shots from behind the arc. Senior guard Waleed Farid added 12 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and four steals. Sophomore guard/forward Matt Higgins posted 12 points and four rebounds off the bench.
RIT was led by junior forward Mark Carson (Voorheesville, N.Y.), who posted a game-high 23 points and 15 rebounds. Carson was 10-for-15 from the floor in the contest. Freshman guard Shane Foster (Woodland Hills, Calif.) tallied 17 points and made 11-of-14 free throws. Sophomore guard Adam Sweet (Weedsport, N.Y.) finished with 16 points and made three three-pointers on the evening.
Leading 22-19 midway through the first half, the Tigers went on a 7-1 run once senior forward Tim Williams of the Ducks picked up his second personal foul. Sweet capped the spurt with a three-pointer that put RIT on top 29-20 with 8:47 remaining in the period.
Stevens responded with a 17-5 run over the next seven minutes to grab a 37-34 lead. Higgins scored four straight points to get things going. Passalacqua followed with a three-pointer. He also made a pair of free throws after a technical foul was assessed to the RIT bench to put the Ducks ahead 33-32. Senior forward Nate Williams scored his team's final four points of the burst as Stevens opened a three-point advantage with 56 seconds left before halftime. The Ducks led 37-36 at the break.
With the game tied at 41-all early in the second half, Passalacqua and sophomore guard George Greco knocked down back-to-back three-pointers. The Tigers responded with a 15-5 run over a three-minute stretch to grab a 56-52 lead on consecutive three-pointers by senior guard Barrett Zeinfeld (Tuscon, Ariz.). Stevens battled back to tie the game at 64-64, but RIT rattled off a 7-1 spurt to take control of the contest. Sweet's three-pointer with 5:43 remaining put the Tigers in front 71-65.
Down the stretch, the closest Stevens got was to within three points on two separate occasions. RIT, which scored 55 second-half points, led by as many as eight points in the closing seconds of the game.
The Ducks will be right back in action on Saturday as they resume Empire 8 play against Nazareth College at 4 p.m. The Golden Flyers are currently 8-1 overall and 3-0 in conference action.
