UNION, N.J. (January 19, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team defeated Elmira College, 70-63 on Monday evening in Union, N.J. at Kean University. The win was the second in a row for Stevens who had lost its previous three games. The Ducks are now 2-3 in the Empire 8 and 9-5 overall and will host Hartwick Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. Freshman Eric Kessler provided the Ducks with a big lift off the bench, hitting four from long range, three of which came during a huge 23-5 second-half run.
The game was tied at 26-all when the teams returned to the floor after halftime. Senior guard Anthony Passalacqua hit a three 14 seconds in, but Elmira responded with a 9-0 run to take a 35-29 lead with 17:44 remaining.
From that point on, the Ducks proceeded to score 23 of game's next 28 points to take a commanding, 52-40 lead with a little less than 10 minutes to play. Kessler brought the Ducks within one at 35-34 at the 15:47 mark and gave Stevens the lead for good when he buried another from long range on a nice feed from Passalacqua. The run was capped by traditional three-point play by freshman forward Simon Smith, who played a strong second half after being forced to sit out much of the first because of foul trouble.
The Ducks were able to expand their lead all the way to 17 after a gorgeous lob and finish from freshman guard Justin Sanchez to junior forward Ian Masone.
Elmira (2-13 overall, 0-6 Empire 8) fought back with a 9-0 spurt to make the score 64-55 with 2:23 to go, but freshman guard Michael Cutri converted a tough, fast-break layup to get the lead back to double figures.
Stevens played a rough first half, shooting just 27.3 percent from the floor and 4-of-13 from long range. The Ducks were trailing by three in the closing seconds but Cutri was able to bang home an open three as the first 20 minutes came to a close.
Stevens assisted on 17 of its 25 buckets and turned the ball over 12 times. The Ducks finished the night shooting 37.9 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from long range. They were 11-of-21 from the free-throw line.
Kessler finished with a team-high 12 points, and Passalacqua was the only other Stevens player in double figures as the tri-captain had 10 points on 4-of-11 from the floor. Junior guard Matt Higgins, senior guard Michael Baker, Smith, and Cutri all finished the game with nine points as Smith and Baker had nine and eight boards, respectively.
For the second-straight game Stevens outrebounded its opponent, finishing the night with a 49-39 advantage on the glass. The Ducks also held the Soaring Eagles to 36.7 percent from floor and 29.2 percent from behind the arc.
Sophomore guard Bobby DiPiazza (Wyckoff, N.J.) led Elmira with 21 points but shot just 6-for-22 from the floor, and junior guard Bryan Mathews (Horseheads, N.Y.) netted 16. Junior forward Jon Adamson (Little Falls, N.Y.) had 12 points and nine rebounds.
Stevens will look to get to .500 in the conference when it hosts Hartwick on Tuesday in Hoboken. The game is slated for an 8 p.m. tip-off at Canavan Arena and will be broadcast live at www.Empire8.tv.
