PITTSFORD, N.Y. (January 29, 2010) – Sophomore guard Mike Cutri scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to a 66-58 win over conference rival St. John Fisher College at Manning and Napier Gymnasium on Friday night in Pittsford, N.Y. The loss is the first for the Cardinals in conference (10-1), and the win pushes the Ducks to 14-4 overall and 7-3 in the Empire 8. Senior guard George Greco had 13 in the win, including four huge free throws with less than a minute remaining.
Stevens started well, taking a quick 6-0 edge thanks to jumper from senior forward Matt Higgins, two free throws from senior guard George Greco, and a steal and fast-break layup from Greco. After another stop on the defensive end, Greco found a cutting Simon Smith for an easy dunk and an 8-0 Duck lead 2:30 into the action.
Cutri found Higgins along the left baseline for a 10-0 Stevens lead with 16:25 left in the first, and Fisher finally got on the board with a three-ball from senior guard Matt Newman (Campbell, N.Y.) on the following possession. Newman's three ignited an 8-0 Cardinal run before a Smith put-back gave Stevens a 12-8 advantage with 14:00 minutes left in the opening half.
The Cardinals scored the game's next five points to take their first lead (13-12) with 10:50 remaining in the first half as freshman center Jason Norsen (Hamburg, N.Y.) completed a three-point play with a made free throw.
Junior center Bryan Franklin swished pair at the line to give the Ducks a one-point edge, and senior forward Ian Masone made it 16-13 Stevens with a 16-footer on its next possession.
The see-saw continued with Fisher converting a pair of off-balance layups to regain the lead, and junior forward Jordan Koch (East Rochester, N.Y.) hit a baseline jumper to push the Cardinal lead to three with 7:00 minutes left in the first.
Smith made a nice move underneath to get the Ducks back within one at the 5:20 mark, and after a basket on each end, Stevens got a stop and converted a transition basket when freshman guard Russ Thompson spotted Higgins on the left baseline for an easy jumper.
Fisher tied the score at 22 when it split a pair at the line, but Thompson found Cutri on the left side for a triple and a three point Stevens lead on the Ducks' next time down the floor. The Ducks then got a stop, and on the next possession, Cutri buried another from long range to extend the Stevens advantage to six with 1:42 remaining before the break.
Senior center Michael Wopperer (East Amherst, N.Y.) was able to make a 14-footer to make it a four-point game, but Cutri knocked down another jumper, this one from the left elbow, to make it 30-24 Stevens going into the locker room.
Like Stevens in the first half, Fisher started the second half strong, going on a 9-0 run over 3:34 to take a 33-30 lead with 16:06 left on the clock.
Wopperer converted another offensive rebound into a two points to give St. John Fisher a five-point lead, but Masone made a driving layup to end the Cardinal run at 11. An offensive foul on Wopperer gave the Ducks the ball back and Cutri made a move underneath to get the Ducks back within one. The Ducks' D forced a bad shot on the next possession and Cutri hit a runner on the left side to make it 36-35 Stevens with 13:30 to go.
After a turnaround jumper from freshman forward Max Schwartz made it 41-38 Stevens, sophomore guard Eric Kessler notched a steal and Cutri turned it into three points for the Ducks with his third three-pointer of the game.
Greco hit a three as the shot clock expired to give Stevens an eight-point lead (47-39) with 9:28 on the clock, but Wopperer hit a long two to trim the Duck advantage to six.
Greco pushed the Stevens lead back to eight with a drive down the lane, and after a big stop, a Thompson jumper made it 51-41 Ducks. Stevens continued it solid defensive play with another stop, and took its largest lead of the game (53-41) with 7:11 remaining.
After Fisher cut the lead to 10 with a pair of free throws, Greco found Cutri at the top of the key for a huge three to make it 56-43 Ducks with 4:45 remaining.
Fisher converted made a free throw and a layup to make it 56-46 Stevens with 2:31 to go, and after a Duck turnover, Newman hit a jumper to make it an eight-point game with 2:02 on the clock. Kessler found Higgins underneath despite intense pressure from Fisher to get the lead back to 10 and after a missed layup by the Cardinals, Higgins hit 1-of-2 at the line to get the lead to 11 (59-48) with 1:31 left.
Cardinal junior Brandon Witte (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) made a three from the right side with 1:13 remaining to cut the Duck lead to eight, but Kessler made a pair from the charity stripe to extend the lead back to double figures. Wopperer made 1-of-2 after a Stevens foul, and after the Ducks missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Newman hit a long three to make it a six-point game (61-55) with 53.5 left.
After empty possessions for both squads, Greco corralled an offensive rebound after a missed free throw and was fouled. The Duck senior made both of his attempts to make it 63-55 Stevens. Masone blocked a layup on the next Fisher possession, Greco grabbed the rebound, was fouled, and hit both to make it 65-55 with 22.3 left.
A Cardinal three cut the Duck lead to seven, but Cutri followed by hitting 1-of-2 at the line to seal the deal and the Ducks earned the 66-58 win.
The Ducks ended the contest shooting 38.7 percent and were 5-of-13 from long range. They were 13-of-22 from the free-throw line. Cutri finished with 19 points, four rebounds, and two assists. He made big shot after big shot and was 4-for-4 from deep. Greco had 13 points and four rebounds, Higgins had nine points and six boards, and Masone was solid with a game-high 10 rebounds, four points, and four blocks. Thompson had a team-high five assists, and Smith had eight points and eight rebounds. The Ducks ended with a 45-37 rebounding advantage.
Newman, Wopperer, and Witte all scored in double figures for Fisher (16-4 overall, 10-1 Empire 8). The Cardinals finished shooting 35.6 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from long range.
Stevens will return to action on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. versus Nazareth College. The game will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com/main/php.
NOTES: Stevens, which won 13 total games in 2008-09 and six in the conference, has now surpassed both marks in 2009-10 (14, 7). ... All coaches from both teams wore sneakers in support of Suits and Sneakers - a program that raises awareness about cancer. ... Stevens is now 5-1 on the road in conference games this season.
