Jersey City, N.Y. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team got top-to-bottom contributions Wednesday night, knocking off Hudson County foe New Jersey City University by a 62-53 final.

All eight players who stepped on the court scored at least four points, including six players who had at least seven, led by Jack Spellman, who flirted with a triple-double, finishing with a game-high 16 rebounds and eight blocks to go along with his team-high 12 points.

Tommy Scholl stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and a game-high five steals; Mike Goodall finished with eight points, six boards, four assists, and a pair of steals; Matt Leming nearly matched his point total for the season entering the game, finishing with nine points in just 10 minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED
NJCU (3-1) put the first four on the board, but Spellman got Stevens on the board after running the pick and roll w/ Scholl for an easy layup. Goodall tied it with a runner in the lane and Harmehar Chhabra put the Ducks on top for the first time w/ a layup in transition. After an NJCU three and mid-range jumper gave them a 9-6 edge, another Chhabra layup in transition and Goodall mid-range jumper flipped the lead back in Stevens favor.

NJCU answered right back with an 11-2 spurt, forcing a Stevens timeout which the Ducks came flying out of with seven straight, forcing a Gothic Knights' timeout. Out of the NJCU timeout, Brendan Coughlan made it nine straight for Stevens and a 21-20 lead for the Ducks with a put back of his own miss.

The teams traded one-point leads seven more times over the ensuing four minutes before back-to-back NJCU baskets made it 30-27 at the 4:08 mark, but Kyle Maddison tied it with a three the next possession.

The 90 seconds that followed became the Scholl show as the sophomore gave Stevens the lead with a pair of free throws, then knocked down back-to-back threes from nearly identical spots on the left wing, as Stevens suddenly held its largest lead of the game at 38-30. Spellman answered an NJCU free throw with a layup in traffic, sending the Ducks to the locker room with a 40-31 lead. In all, the opening half featured 13 lead changes.

Stevens held at least a three-possession lead through the first 9:30 of the second half before NJCU cut it to 50-45 at the 10:32 mark. The Ducks answered right back with five straight via a Leming layup and three-ball, doubling the lead back to 10.

The teams both went cold from the field and the foul line over the following three minutes, combining to go 1-7 from the foul line and 0-3 from the field before Maddison knocked down a three, putting Stevens up 59-49 at the 6:02 mark. NJCU did not draw closer than nine the rest of the way, as the Ducks picked up their third straight win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stevens finished with a 49-41 advantage on the glass and are +35 on the boards through the first four games of the season
• The Ducks shot 37.5 percent from three-point territory (6-for-16) and have hit at least 37 percent from beyond the arc in four straight games for the first time since February 23 through March 4, 2022.
• NJCU came in shooting 40.8 percent from the field during its 3-0 start; Stevens held them to a 33.3 percent clip.
• NJCU has failed to hit the 55-point mark just twice since the start of last season; both of those games have been against Stevens.

FROM THE COURT (Head Coach Bobby Hurley)
"It is always a battle with NJCU and they are tough at home. Their pressure bothered us a bit but I thought we did a good job defensively in the second half."
 
UP NEXT
The Ducks' four-game road stretch continues Saturday with a 1 pm tip from Vermont against Middlebury.