HOBOKEN, N.J. (December 30, 2008) – Senior tri-captain Anthony Passalacqua hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer from five feet inside of half court to lift the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to a 75-74 overtime victory over The College of New Jersey on Tuesday night inside the Canavan Arena. Passalacqua caught a Michael Baker inbounds pass with .7 seconds remaining and hoisted a perfect shot for the win. Three Ducks scored in double figures as Stevens will head into conference play with a record of 7-2.
The game was close throughout as there were 10 ties, 12 lead changes, and Stevens (7-2) held the game's largest lead of seven for a brief period in the second half.
With 11:16 left in the first half, Stevens took a six-point lead, the largest of the first 20 minutes. TCNJ (4-4) slowly chipped away and was able to take the lead at 20-19 with 5:44 left in the half. The Ducks then went on a 6-0 run over 1:46 to take a 25-20 lead.
The Lions then scored eight of the next 11 to knot the score at 28 with 36 ticks on the clock before freshman forward Simon Smith put in a layup to give the Ducks a two-point edge going into the break.
The Ducks were able to keep their lead between three and five points for the first seven-plus minutes of the second, and freshman Justin Sanchez was able to give them their biggest lead of the contest, seven, when he buried a three off an assist from senior guard Virgil Gray with 12:48 remaining.
Over the next 6:38 of game time, the Lions battled back and eventually tied the score at 50 when Aaron Svyvertsen (Midland Park, N.J.) hit a three after a nice feed from Eric Hayes (Plainfield, N.J.).
Over the final six minutes, the score was tied three more times and neither team got its lead above three points. Baker was able to give the Ducks a two-point cushion with 20 seconds remaining but Jay Frank (Brick, N.J.) made a wheeling jump shot on the right side of the lane with seven seconds to go.
In overtime, TCNJ made its first shot of the overtime period to take a 66-64 lead, but the Ducks went on an 8-1 run over the next 3:27 to build a 72-67 lead with just 1:07 to go. Once again, the Lions battled back and scored six-straight over a 40-second span to take a 73-72 lead with 27 seconds on the clock. Frank hit a layup and a free throw to account for the final three points of the run.
Sophomore forward Steven Siracusa (New Providence, N.J.) converted one of two free throws to give TCNJ a two-point edge with 12 seconds left. Stevens got a good look but could not convert on the ensuing possession, and TCNJ gathered the rebound and called a timeout with 1.5 seconds to go.
Junior forward Ian Masone then stole the Lions' inbounds after a timeout to set the stage for Passalacqua's late-game heroics with .7 seconds remaining.
Syvertsen led the way for TCNJ with 19 points, and Siracusa had 12 points and 10 boards.
The Ducks had many strong individual performances. Smith had an excellent game in his first start of his career, scoring 12 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out three assists. Gray had a game-high 23 points and 11 boards, and Baker was two assists shy of a triple-double, pouring in 13 points, snaring 11 boards, and handing out eight assists. Junior Matt Higgins also had a big game. The guard scored 13 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
Stevens will now head north to take on Nazareth College in its Empire 8 opener on Friday evening. The Ducks will then visit St. John Fisher College the following day.
