HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 3, 2024) - Senior Mike Goodall made five three-pointers en route to 17 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team defeated Lebanon Valley 70-65 to open up MAC Freedom play Wednesday night inside Canavan Arena.

The victory is the Ducks' third-straight as they improve to 10-2 and 1-0 in MAC Freedom play. The Ducks have won every conference opener since joining the MAC Freedom and have won every conference opener since the 2016-17 season. Stevens also improved to 7-1 at home this season. Stevens is now 1-0 against the Dutchmen, who fall to 2-10 and 0-1 in MAC Freedom play with the loss.

Both teams combined to miss just one shot for the first 3:07 of the game as both teams came out on fire. The teams traded buckets back and forth, with Lebanon Valley leading 11-9 at the end of the flurry. The Ducks' next two buckets were threes, as graduate student Stephen Braunstein and first-year Xander Singh each made triples as the score was deadlocked at 15. A few minutes later tied at 17, the Ducks caught the three-point bug again, as Goodall three threes in two minutes and graduate student Conor Coffey added another as Stevens held a 29-19 lead with over eight minutes to go in the frame. The Ducks maintained their advantage for the rest of the half, leading 43-28 at the break after Braunstein scored the final five points of the half in the last minute of play.

After six minutes and some change in the second half, the Duck lead ballooned to 19 after back-to-back layups by graduate student Tommy McGuire. Singh, Goodall, and junior Jack Spellman each had two points in those six minutes as well. Across the next six minutes, Lebanon Valley went on a 16-3 run to get back to within six. Stevens got the lead back up to 11 with over five minutes to go after a three by Coffey, but Lebanon Valley continued to fight back as they cut the deficit to two with 1:01 left on the clock. Stevens outscored the Dutchmen 5-2 in the final minute to hold on for the victory to kick off MAC Freedom play undefeated.

Top Performers

• Goodall also had two assists and two steals.
• Coffey scored 15 points and had six assists. Coffey leads the conference in assists this season.
• Braunstein scored 13 points and corralled eight boards.
• Spellman grabbed 16 rebounds.
• Singh scored nine points and added 11 rebounds.
• Stevens shot 41.7 percent (25-60) from the field and 34.3 percent (12-35) from three. The Ducks also went 8-11 (72.7%) from the line.

The Opponent

• Luis Garcia scored 18 points.
• Braden Bohannon scored 12 points and had five rebounds.
• Ryan Harder added 16 points.
• Lebanon Valley shot 39.1 percent (25-64) from the field and 31.3 percent (5-16) from three. They also went 10-12 from the free throw line (83.3%).

Around the MAC Freedom

• FDU-Florham 68, Bridgewater 80 F/SAT
• Thomas 71, FDU-Florham 59 F/SUN
• Arcadia 65, Rutgers-Newark 64 F/SUN
• Misericordia 99, Delaware Valley 75
• FDU-Florham 72, King's 80
• Arcadia 50, DeSales 69

Up Next: The Ducks continue conference play on Saturday as they visit Misericordia. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. The Ducks are 6-2 all-time against the Cougars, including winning the home contest last season. Conor Coffey scored 21 points and had nine assists in the contest. Links for live stats and video are posted to stevensducks.com