Box Score

Senior Night

HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 21, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team closed its regular season Friday night with a 74-68 comeback win over Elmira College at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. on Senior Night.
 
Stevens improves to 10-4 in the Empire 8 and 17-8 overall. Elmira falls to 10-14 overall and 5-8 in the conference. The Ducks have clinched a spot in the conference tournament, but need Elmira to defeat Hartwick on Saturday in order to earn the No. 1 seed. The Soaring Eagles and Hawks will square off in Oneonta at 4 p.m.
 
After trailing for most of the game, the Ducks found themselves down 67-60 with 2:58 left after an Elmira layup from senior guard Derrick Vogel (Bel Air, Md.). From that point, the Ducks exploded, keyed by great plays made by senior guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) to close the game on a 14-1 run to earn the 74-68 win.
 
Skrelja made a driving layup to make it 67-62, and after a block from senior guard Andrew Meszaros (Pheonxville, Pa.), grabbed the rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup. He was fouled on the play and converted the and-one to make it 67-65 Elmira with 2:13 left.
 
An Elmira turnover that was forced by Skrelja resulted in a driving layup from sophomore guard Evan Klimchak (Readington, N.J.) to tie the score at 67-all with 1:36 on the clock.
 
More Skrelja pressure resulted in a turnover along the sideline, and on the ensuing Stevens possession, junior forward Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) grabbed an offensive rebound and a Skrelja layup gave the Ducks the lead for the first time since 8-7.
 
Elmira was fouled on the next possession with 36 seconds on the clock, but did not convert the front end of its 1-and-1, forcing Elmira to foul. Klimchak then hit a pair to make it a four-point game (71-67) with exactly 30 seconds showing on the scoreboard.
 
The Soaring Eagles again were fouled, this time after an offensive rebound with 13 seconds remaining, but could not convert either attempt, and the Ducks eventually earned the six-point come-from-behind win.
 
Stevens jumped out to an early 8-5 lead, but Elmira responded with 10-0 run over a span of 2:21 to take a 15-8 margin with 13:42 left. The Soaring Eagles received a pair of three-pointers from senior guard Josh Keys (Bel Air, Md.) in the spurt.
 
Elmira would lead by as many as nine points (22-13) with 9:57 left in the opening period, but the Ducks were able to get as close as two at 30-28 with 3:02 to go in the first before going into the locker room trailing 35-31.
 
The Ducks shot 46.7 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, but went just 1-for-7 from deep and only took four total free throws.
 
Stevens finished the game shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 61.9 percent at the line. The Ducks were just 3-for-18 from deep and were minus-5 on the glass (36-31). However, Stevens only committed nine total turnovers and had 12 assists, compiling six steals and four blocked shots.
 
Skrelja led the Ducks in another great all-around performance, scoring 20 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out six assists and tallying three steals. Junior forward Kenny Gan (Hillsborough, N.J.) scored a career-high 17 points to go along with seven rebounds and two steals, while Klimchak had 16 points and three assists. Sabatino notched 14 points and eight rebounds to go with two blocks and two helpers, while Meszaros had seven boards.
 
Elmira was led by 22 points and seven rebounds from junior forward Neil Randolph (Wicklow, Ireland). The Soaring Eagles shot 8-for-20 from three, 24-for-52 from the field and 12-for-19 at the line.
 
Check www.StevensDucks.com and follow @stevensducks for updates regarding the Empire 8 Championship schedule and matchups.