NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 15, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team dropped its season-opener to New York University, 83-59, on Sunday afternoon in Manhattan, N.Y. Sophomore forward Simon Smith recorded his fourth career double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds, and freshmen guards Sheldon Jones and Russ Thompson scored 17 and 12 points, respectively to lead the Ducks (0-1). NYU had five players score 10 points or more as the Violets were led by 13 points, nine boards, and three assists from junior center Richie Polan (Tarzana, Calif.).
NYU (1-0) opened strong and was able to build a double-digit lead 6:04 into the game. After Stevens (0-1) made the score 9-6 on a Smith jumper, the Violets rattled off the game's next seven points to take a 16-6 lead. Over the next nine minutes, that lead would balloon to 18 after a Polan jump shot with 4:56 left in the first half.
The Ducks, however, would not back down and battled back with a 16-6 run during a span of 3:21 to make it a 36-28 game going into the break. Jones and Thompson combined for 10 points during the spurt, with Thompson burying two triples.
Stevens hit 4-of-9 from long range in the first half but shot just 32.5 percent from the floor. NYU shot 44.8 percent from the field, made all six of its free throws, and was 4-of-14 from deep.
Stevens was able to trim what was once an 18-point lead to just six after senior George Greco put in a layup 27 ticks into the second half, but that would be the closest the Ducks would get as NYU was able to extend its lead back to 18 (52-36) with 12:39 remaining.
The Ducks could only get as close as 12 the rest of the way, the last being 63-51 after a three-pointer by Thompson.
Stevens finished the game shooting 17-for-55 from the field (30.9 percent), 7-of-19 from three, and 18-of-27 from the charity stripe. The Ducks finished with 35 rebounds and six assists. They turned the ball over 13 times and totaled five steals. In addition to Smith, Jones, and Thompson, Greco had seven points and senior captain Ian Masone pulled down seven rebounds.
NYU had an extremely balanced scoring attack with five players in double figures – senior forward Keith Jensen (San Diego, Calif.) had a game-high 16, senior guard Omar Meziab (Tucson, Ariz.) had 14, Polan had 13, sophomore center Andy Stein (Bethlehem, Pa.) notched 12, and freshman forward Carl Yaffe (Bethesda, Md.) scored 11. The Violets finished the game shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 18-of-19 from the line. They grabbed 37 rebounds and assisted on 19 of their 29 made field goals.
Stevens will return to action on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. when they host King's College in the first game of the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament. NYU will return to action Saturday when it hosts Skidmore College in the first round of the NYU Tip-Off Tournament.
