HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 11, 2018) – Jayson Winick hit a free throw with 0.3 seconds remaining as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team erased a 12-point deficit to down The Sage Colleges 73-72 at home in Empire 8 action on Thursday. The Ducks remain perfect in conference play and are now 5-0 in the league.
 
A 14-0 run in the last five minutes allowed Stevens to come back. Michael Zignorski started it with the first four points, then Spencer Cook hit two free throws. Winick knocked down huge trey (his second big hit from downtown) to cut the lead in half, then Cook's transition layup whittled the lead to one. Zignorski's free throw tied it with 46 seconds remaining and Winick's steal set up a go-ahead free throw.
 
Sage finally ended its slide via a layup with seven seconds to go. On the ensuing possession, Winick drove the lane, was fouled and hit the first free throw to give Stevens the lead once more. With just .3 seconds on the board, he wisely missed the second to take away any chance of a Sage comeback.
 
The game featured a total of six ties and five lead changes. Stevens forced 20 Gator turnovers to fuel their epic run.
 
Early on, the Sage press was fouling up the Stevens mechanism, until a 13-2 run midway through the first quarter put the Ducks on top for the first time. The run was sparked by a Jake Krantz layup, set up on a nice pass by Chris Cosgrove.
 
Stevens led by a point (33-32) at halftime, with the Duck bench providing 22 of those points.
 
Michael Zignorski had nine points, two assists and two rebounds in the opening half.
 
With the Ducks down by three, Kevin Florio nailed a trey to knot things up for the fourth time at 9:35
Sage 10-0 run after that, setting up the Ducks for their memorable comeback.
 
Sage led for 68 percent of the game. Stevens ended the game on a 15-2 run and held Sage scoreless for five minutes to make the comeback possible.

"Sage was the better team for most of the game tonight," said head coach Bobby Hurley. "Luckily our guys stayed with it and we were able to make some plays down the stretch to escape with a win."

 
Up Next
 
Stevens will wrap up a furious stretch of six conference games in 10 days with a trip to Hartwick College on Saturday at 2 p.m.