UNION, N.J. (November 16, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team overcame a 13-point deficit late in the first half to earn its first win of the season, defeating Kean University by a score of 66-65 Tuesday night at the Harwood Arena in Union, N.J.
With the Ducks trailing 62-61 with 51 seconds remaining, freshman guard
Chris Cosgrove hit a jumper to give Stevens a lead it would never relinquish en route to evening its record at 1-1. Stevens forced two missed three-pointers on Kean's next possession and senior forward
Patrick Sabatino made it a three-point game with 20 seconds remaining. Again the Cougars would miss from long range, this time getting a rebound from Sabatino and 1-of-2 at the line from sophomore forward
Otis Osman to ice the game.
Osman led Stevens with 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists, shooting 7-for-10 from the field. Sabatino had 17 points and five rebounds, going 9-for-11 at the line in a strong game. Senior forward
Kenny Gan finished with seven points and seven rebounds, while Cosgrove had four points, three assists and a steal. Freshman guard Jayson Winnick added six points, two assists and two steals in a solid performance off the bench for Stevens.
Kean (0-2) took an early 3-0 lead, and 5:55 into the action was on top 10-6. The Cougars pushed the lead to six (12-6), but a three-pointer from Winick pulled the Ducks within three.
From that, point the hosts ran off five-straight tallies to go on top 17-9, and eventually, they pushed the margin to 13 points, before back-to-back buckets from Sabatino got the Kean lead into single digits. Unable to get closer for the moment, Kean went back up 12 with 1:50 left in the first, but three-pointers from Osman 50 seconds apart made it a 33-27 game with just 12 ticks left in opening period.
Senior forward Tim Steward – who had 13 first-half points - ended the half with a jumper for the Cougars, sending the teams into intermission with the score 35-27.
The Ducks came out strong in the second half, overtaking the lead thanks to a 13-3 run. Sophomore guard
Patrick Barron started things with a three-pointer and moments later back-to-back layups from Gan and Sabatino brought the Ducks within one point at 37-36. Sabatino tied the score at 37, and following 1-of-2 at the line from Kean, two stops around a pair of made free throws gave the Ducks a 38-37 lead. Kean came back to knot the score at 38, but the Ducks scored nine of the game's next 11 points to grab hold of a 47-40 edge midway through the second. Winnick, Sabatino and Gan all tallied baskets for the Ducks.
Kean was able to chip away, getting within three at 53-50, and tying the score at 56, but the Ducks used a layup from Osman thanks to a feed from Winnick to go back on top 58-56 with 3:01 remaining. The Cougars answered, as did the Ducks and Osman and the back-and-forth affair continued the rest of the way.
The Ducks had 30 points in the paint and 16 points off turnovers, shooting 23-for-52 (44.2 percent) from the field and 29.2 percent (7-for-24) from deep. They tallied 17 assists and just 14 turnovers, recording eight thefts as a team as well. Stevens held a 33-28 edge on the glass as Kean shot 42.2 percent from the field, and 37.5 percent from three.
Stevens will return to action at the Misericordia Tournament is Dallas, Pa., battling Richard Stockton on November 21 at 6 p.m.
