HOBOKEN, N.J. (December 30, 2009) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team won its seventh-straight game on Wednesday night at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. as the Ducks defeated Kean University, 77-71, in overtime. Stevens was able to overcome a 35-foot game-tying buzzer-beater from senior guard Vinnie Darpino (Colonia, N.J.) and outscored the Cougars 8-2 in the extra period en route to the victory. Senior guard George Greco led four Ducks in double figures with 17 points.

After several empty possessions for both squads in overtime, Darpino put the Cougars (3-7) up 71-69 after converting a pair of free throws. Those two points would be Kean's only two in extra time as the Ducks rang off the final eight points of the game.

On the ensuing possession, senior forward Ian Masone found Greco on the left side for a huge three to put the Ducks up 72-71 with 3:36 to play. After a missed jumper, an offensive rebound, and missed three, Stevens came back and went up four when Greco found sophomore guard Mike Cutri at the top of the key for a triple with 2:33 remaining.

Neither team could score over the next 2:11 and with 22 seconds left, Cutri converted one of two free throws to make it 76-71 Stevens, and after another stop, Greco made the first of his two attempts for the final margin.

Stevens (7-1 overall, 2-0 Empire 8) started strong, jumping out to a 9-2 lead 3:49 into the action, but Kean battled back, tying the game at 16-all and 19-all before taking its first lead with 9:14 to play in the first.

The Cougars were able to push their lead to five after a pair of Jonathan Jones (Linden, N.J.) free throws with 6:17 left in the first, but the Ducks responded to tie the score at 29 thanks to a three from freshman Russ Thompson several made free throws. The back-and-forth first half ended with Stevens holding a slim, 36-35 advantage.

Kean jumped out to its largest lead of the contest with a 9-2 run early in the second and took a 44-38 advantage with 16:09 remaining in regulation. The Ducks responded with a 7-0 run of their own to regain the momentum and lead with 14:23 to play after a made 15-footer from freshman Sheldon Jones. The two teams continued to see-saw and go blow-for-blow, and every time Kean was able to get its edge back to four, Stevens would come back and tie.

With 2:50 remaining the Cougars went up 66-62 after a driving layup from Jonathan Jones, but 10 ticks later, Greco responded with a long triple from the left side to cut the lead to one. Each team turned it over on their next possession, and after a missed three from Darpino, sophomore Simon Smith corralled the defensive rebound, found a way to get an offensive rebound after a Cutri miss on the ensuing possession and put the Ducks on top with a layup from the right side with 47 seconds showing on the clock.

Stevens got stops on the next two Kean possessions but could only make 1-of-2 on their trips to the line so the score was 69-66 with three seconds left. Jones rebounded the missed free throw, fired a quick outlet to Darpino at half court and the senior hoisted a three from 35 feet to tie the game at 69 and send it into overtime. In all, the game saw nine ties and 12 lead changes.

The Ducks shot 50 percent from the field (25-of-50) and went 10-of-19 from long range. They were outrebounded 44-33 and went 17-of-33 from the charity stripe (51.5 percent). Greco finished with 17 points, five assists, and two steals and Cutri tallied 14 points and two rebounds. Thompson had 12 points as the rookie connected on four of his five three-pointers and Smith finished with 10 points and four rebounds. Senior captain Matt Higgins scored nine points, grabbed five rebounds, and had six steals and Masone finished with 10 rebounds, three points, two assists, a steal, and a block.

Kean was led by Darpino's 23 points. Jones finished with 11 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. The Cougars shot 41.9 percent from the floor (26-of-62) and 29.2 percent from deep. They made 12 of their 20 free-throw attempts.

Stevens will return to action this weekend with a pair of home conference games. The Ducks will take on St. John Fisher College at 4 p.m. on Saturday and Nazareth College at 4 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com/main.php.