HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 1, 2009) – Senior guard Virgil Gray scored a game-high 27 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team earned a thrilling, 64-61 overtime victory over 21st-ranked St. John Fisher College at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. on Sunday afternoon. Gray scored four of the six Stevens points in overtime as the Ducks improve to 11-8 overall and 4-6 in the Empire 8. Senior guard Anthony Passalacqua scored the 1,000th point of his career with 9:21 remaining in the second half when he drilled a three-pointer to put the Ducks up, 45-41.
Passalacqua needed 14 points coming into today's action to get to the career milestone and scored exactly 14. He shot 4-for-10 from three and grabbed three rebounds for the Ducks. The senior captain transferred to Stevens from Wagner College as a sophomore (2006-07) and has been a big-time scorer in his three years as a Duck.
Stevens fell behind 6-0 just 2:31 into the game but threes from Gray and Passalacqua just 38 seconds apart quickly tied things up. The Ducks were able to build a seven-point cushion after a Passalacqua layup with 11:45 to go in the first, but Fisher scored nine of the game's next 12 points to get within one, 19-18.
Stevens answered the Fisher run, with a quick 5-0 spurt to get the lead back to six and went into the locker room with a 26-22 lead. Unlike the second half of the Nazareth game on Friday night, Stevens played inspired defense throughout the entire first half. The Ducks held Fisher to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor and 1-for-8 from long range.
Early in the second, the Ducks were able to build an eight-point advantage on three separate occasions, the last being 38-30 with 15:26 to go. However, Fisher would not go away. The Cardinals used an 11-4 run over the game's next 4:22 to get the Stevens lead down to one at 42-41 after an Ozell Franklin (Henrietta, N.Y.) layup.
Stevens would not lose its composure as the Ducks responded with a nice run of their own. Passalacqua connected from long range to put Stevens back up four, and after Connor Henderson (Canandaigua, N.Y.) converted a layup to make the score 45-43 Ducks, senior guard Michael Baker hit a three and Gray buried a jumper from 16 feet away to extend the Stevens lead back to seven.
The back-and-forth continued as Fisher (14-4 overall, 6-3 Empire 8) outscored Stevens 14-7 over the next 3:42 of game time to knot the score at 57 with 3:32 to go. Each team could only convert one free throw the rest of the way, and Fisher's Will Cornett (Campbell, N.Y.) could not connect from long range with seconds to go so the game headed to overtime tied at 58.
Both teams struggled in the extra period as Fisher went 1-for-8 from the field and Stevens was 1-for-4. Gray hit a jumper to give Stevens a two-point lead 29 seconds in, and Henderson responded for Fisher with a triple 19 seconds later to give the Cardinals a 61-60 lead.
That three would prove to be all the scoring for the Cardinals as they would miss on their next seven attempts from the floor. Gray and Baker each hit two foul shots over the final four-plus minutes to give Stevens the lead, and Franklin was off on two three-pointers in the final five seconds of overtime.
Gray finished with 27 points, five rebounds, and three assists for Stevens. Junior Matt Higgins (Freehold, N.J.) was solid in the second half for the Ducks, going 4-for-4 from the floor. He finished with nine points and five rebounds, and Baker ended the contest with seven points, nine assists, and eight boards. The Ducks shot 38.7 percent on the afternoon but converted on nine of their 12 free-throw attempts.
Fisher was led by Henderson's 17 points and five rebounds. Junior forward Michael Wopperer (East Amherst, N.Y.) added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Cardinals shot 39.3 percent for the game. Stevens won the rebound battle 42-38 and also had 17 assists compared to 13 turnovers.
The Ducks will return to the court on Friday, February 6 versus Alfred University. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tip in Hoboken. The game will be webcast live at www.Empire8.tv, and all fans in attendance will receive rally towels.
