HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 8, 2008) – Junior guard Virgil Gray scored a game-high 26 points and added eight rebounds as the top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team advanced to the finals of the 2008 ECAC Division III Metro Championship with an 83-74 win over fourth-seeded Brooklyn College on Saturday evening at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. The Ducks (22-6) will host second-seeded York College in the championship game on Sunday at 5 p.m.
In the win over the Bridges (21-7), junior guard Anthony Passalacqua scored 19 points and pulled down six rebounds. Senior forward Tim Williams finished with a double-double (13 points, 17 rebounds). Junior guard Michael Baker added 12 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Baker was 4-for-5 from downtown in the game.
Brooklyn was led by senior guard Corey McFarlane (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who had 17 points, nine rebounds, and eight steals. Sophomore guard Daniel Nisbett (Staten Island, N.Y.) added 13 points in the loss. Sophomore forward Richard Jean-Baptiste (Queens, N.Y.) totaled 16 points, seven steals, and three rebounds.
Stevens opened the game on a 10-3 run over the first 3:23 of action. Williams scored eight early points to fuel the Ducks. The Bridges responded with seven straight points to tie the score on a lay-up by sophomore guard Thomas Guerin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) with 13:09 remaining in the period.
Tied at 20-all with less than six minutes to play in the half, Stevens scored 12 of the next 14 points to grab a 32-22 lead. Baker started things off with a three-pointer. Gray followed with a three-point play. Passalacqua and Baker drilled back-to-back three's as the Ducks went ahead by 10 points with three minutes left. Moments later, Baker hit his third three-pointer of the half to put Stevens in front 35-26. The Ducks led 38-30 at the break as they dominated the glass to the tune of a 30-12 advantage. Brooklyn was 0-for-9 from behind the arc in the period.
Down 52-41 with less than 13 minutes to play in the second half, the Bridges went on an 8-1 run to close to within 53-49 on a lay-up by McFarlane. Williams halted the momentum by converting on a three-point play. Leading 58-53 with less than six minutes to go, Stevens put together an 8-3 spurt to reestablish a 10-point advantage (66-56) on a lay-up by Gray with 4:16 left.
Leading 68-60 late in the contest, the Ducks scored seven straight points to blow the game open. Passalacqua was 4-for-4 from the line in that stretch. Gray also had a three-point play as Stevens built a 75-60 lead with 1:48 remaining.
For the game, the Ducks shot 48.1 percent (26-for-54) from the floor. Brooklyn was 24-for-74 (32.4 percent) from the field. Stevens out-rebounded the Bridges by a wide margin (59-33) but did commit 37 turnovers.
In Saturday's other semifinal, York defeated sixth-seeded New York University by the score of 56-44. Three players scored in double-figures for the Cardinals. Stevens will offer Live Stats for Sunday's title game here.
