HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 22, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team earned a solid, 75-60, win over Babson College in the final game of the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Hoboken, N.J. Four of five Duck (2-1) starters scored in double figures and the defense held Babson to 36.1 percent shooting on the day as Stevens finished its own tournament 2-0. Sophomore guard Mike Cutri led all scorers with 18 points and senior guard George Greco scored 13 points and racked up seven assists.

Stevens fell behind 7-2 early but came right back to tie thanks to a three from Cutri and a one-handed Dunk by senior captain Ian Masone. The two teams traded buckets for the next two minutes before the Ducks took their first lead of the game 6:59 in when freshman guard Sheldon Jones sank a pair of free throws.

Down 12-11 with 12:49 left in the first, the Ducks went on a 14-4 run over a span of 4:39 to build a 25-16 advantage with just about eight minutes remaining in the first half. Sophomore forward Simon Smith had six points in the run and Greco had four.

The Beavers (2-1) were able to trim the lead to three on several occasions, but Stevens always seemed to have the answer and went into the locker room with a 34-27 edge after Greco buried a three on the right side with seven seconds showing on the clock.

The Ducks were able to extend the lead to 10 early in the second half when Greco found Cutri on the left side for an open three, but Babson erupted on a 15-5 run over the next 6:25 to tie the game at 45 with 12:40 to play.

After Beaver freshman Alex Rudolph (Bal Harbour, Fla.) drilled a jumper to tie, senior forward Matt Higgins found freshman guard Russ Thompson open up top and the rookie drilled a big-time three. From that point on Stevens would never let go of the lead, going on a 12-5 spurt to build a 57-50 edge with 7:45 remaining.

The Ducks got the lead back to double figures (65-54) after Cutri forced a Dana Mauro (Wethersfield, Conn.)  turnover and converted a 15-foot jumper from the left elbow on the ensuing possession. Then, 1:07 later, Cutri rebounded a Rudolph miss, got fouled on the other end and knocked down two free throws to make it 70-56 Stevens with 3:11 to play. Greco made it 72-56 Stevens with a layup and the Beavers would never threaten again.

The Stevens defense was solid all afternoon, challenging almost every Babson shot and forcing 18 Babson turnovers. The Ducks won the battle of the boards, 40-31, as Jones, junior center Bryan Franklin, Higgins, and Smith all pulled down five rebounds. Higgins finished with 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting and Smith had 10 on 5-of-7 from the floor.

As a team, the Ducks shot 58.0 percent for the game (61 percent in the second half). Stevens shot 54.5 percent from long range (6-for-15) and hit 11-of-17 at the free-throw line.

Babson, which made just 4-of-15 from deep, was led by 16 points and five rebounds from Mauro. Freshman Marcus McDermott (Milton, Mass.) was the only other Beaver in double figures (12).

Stevens will return to action on Tuesday night with a game against Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham at 8 p.m. in the Canavan Arena. The game will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com/main.php.

Stevens Tip-Off Tournament Results
Stevens 73, King's 56 - Friday, November 20
Babson 74, King's 66 - Saturday, November 21
Stevens 75, Babson 60 - Sunday November 22

Stevens - 2-0
Babson - 1-1
King's - 0-2