Hoboken, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team opened the 2024-25 campaign with a 78-76 setback to Catholic University on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither side was able to find a rhythm early, as the two sides combined for just six points through the first 4:02. Jack Spellman snapped an over three-minute scoring drought, converting a tough layup off a Tommy Scholl assist. The Cardinals answered with a 6-0 spurt before Kyle Maddison halted the run with a step-back, corner three-pointer.

Maddison drained another three-pointer to kickstart an 8-0 run, with Maddison and Mike Goodall scoring all eight markers to push Stevens in front 16-11. A fast break layup from Brendan Coughlan gave the Ducks their largest lead of the opening half at six with 9:28 left in the period. Stevens closed the first half on an 18-7 run over the final 6:47, including three three-pointers during the rally.

Maddison led all scorers with 15 first-half points as Goodall added 10 and five boards. The Ducks shot a blistering 57.7% (15-of-26) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes.

Catholic opened the second stanza with a 9-2 spurt, whittling the lead down to six at 43-37, with Sean Neylon knocking down a pair from long range. A 10-2 Stevens run extended the gap back to 13, with Scholl tacking on five markers in the run. Stevens capitalized on a second chance layup, pausing six consecutive points from the visitors.

The Cardinals closed to within seven at 64-57 before Scholl connected from deep to bring the lead back to 10. The guests continued to battle back, getting as close as four with 5:27 left while holding Stevens scoreless for 2:26. Spellman muscled home a layup with 4:07 left, bringing the Ducks lead back to eight off a Goodall feed.

The guests made it a one-possession contest with 2:44 left before tying the game at 71 with a three-point bucket with 2:07 to go. The Cardinals held Stevens to one field goal over a five-minute stretch, turning a 10-point deficit into a tie game. Catholic took their first lead since 11-8 with a three-pointer from Neylon with 1:33 left before Harmehar Chhabra converted from three on the ensuing Stevens possession. 

The Cardinals leveled the game on a layup with 48 seconds remaining and after a Stevens miss, took a two-point advantage on a Dan Buckley jumper with 4.4 ticks left. The Ducks had one final chance to tie or win the game, but Neylon blocked Scholl's three as time expired.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Maddison and Goodall led the Ducks with 20 points. Maddison surpassed his previous career-high of 13 while also knocking out a personal-best four three-pointers.
• Goodall tallied his seventh career 20+ point outing and first since scoring 28 against Arcadia on January 31, 2024.
• Spellman added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting while picking seven boards and four blocked shots.

FROM THE COURT (Head Coach Bobby Hurley)
"I was really happy with our energy and effort today but credit goes to Catholic. They shot the ball extremely well in the second half and we made some mistakes that really hurt us. Not the outcome that we wanted but we will learn from it and continue to improve."

UP NEXT
On Wednesday, the Ducks hit the road for the first time this season, heading to Patchogue, N.Y., to face St. Joseph's-Long Island at 5:30 pm.