MIDDLEBURY, Vt. (December 11, 2022)  – Senior Conor Coffey and sophomore Jack Spellman each hit double figures, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team was unable to overcome a sluggish start in falling to No. 12 Middlebury College 76-53 Sunday in a non-conference matchup at Pepin Gymnasium.

Senior Brett Bischoping had six points and junior Mike Goodall pulled down seven rebounds for the Ducks, who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end in falling to 5-5.

Noah Osher had a game-high 17 points and Alex Sobel and Sam Stevens each added 12 for Middlebury, who won its third straight to improve to 8-1. The Panthers have won each of the last two meetings between the programs and Sunday's matchup was the first in the state of Vermont. Both of the two prior meetings took place in Hoboken. 

The Ducks got off to a cold start offensively, missing their first five field-goal attempts before Coffey hit a free throw to put Stevens on the board. Conversely, Middlebury was able to get off to a good start, connecting on five of its first seven shots to take a 13-1 lead, with two of the points coming on a second-chance opportunity. Spellman's first basket of the day brought the Ducks back to within nine, but Stevens finished an extended Middlebury possession with a long three to push the margin back to double digits.

Stevens shot 7 of 28 from the floor in the first half, but the team rebounded in the second half, connecting on 13 of its 32 attempts (40.6%) to outscore the Panthers 33-31 over the final 20 minutes. The Ducks would score on five straight shots to spark a 16-2 run that trimmed the deficit to 18 with just under three minutes left to play, but Middlebury scored eight of the final 11 points to close out the victory.

A bright spot offensively for the Ducks was the play of first-year Brendan Coughlan, who made both of his attempts from the floor to finish with five points in his collegiate debut. The Glen Allen, Virginia native was a team-high +11 across eight minutes of action and recorded a block.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens made exactly one-third (20) of its 60 attempts from the floor to finish at 33% for the game. After Middlebury connected on half of its field-goal attempts in the first half, the Ducks held Middlebury to 13 of 25 (37%) in the second half.
• Middlebury won the battle of the boards 41-30, including an 11-7 edge on the offensive glass. Despite the Panthers' advantage in offensive rebounding, each team scored 16 second-chance points.
• Sobel finished three assists shy of a triple-double.
• Middlebury has scored 76 points in each of its two wins over Stevens.
• Spellman blocked four shots and is now six shy of 100 for his career. 
• Goodall led the Ducks with four assists, while Coffey and graduate student Connor Strambi each had three. Goodall also nabbed three steals. 
• First-year Matt Leming drew his first career start.

Up Next

• Men's Basketball hosts Dickinson College on Dec. 29 in the opening game of the Ducks' annual holiday tournament. 
• The contest is believed to be the first-ever meeting between the programs.
• Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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