HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 7, 2024) - Junior Jack Spellman and first-year Xander Singh each recorded a double-double, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team lost to No. 17 DeSales 77-69 in MAC Freedom play Wednesday night inside Canavan Arena.

The Ducks fell to 17-5 and 8-3 in MAC Freedom play. The loss ends a five-game winning streak, and is the first conference loss at home for Stevens. The Ducks are now 2-7 all-time against DeSales. DeSales sweeps the season series, and clinches at least a share of the MAC Freedom regular season title. The Bulldogs improve to 20-2 and 11-2 in the MAC Freedom. They have won 17 straight games. Stevens remains in second place in the conference standings and has clinched a postseason appearance. DeSales sits in first place and has clinched the #1 seed in the MAC Freedom tournament. The top four teams qualify for the tournament.

DeSales scored the first basket of the battle between the top two seeds in the MAC Freedom, but graduate student Conor Coffey came down and drilled a three to take kick off "Tees for 3's" night. DeSales quickly responded with their own triple, which Stevens answered with an and-one from Spellman. The teams would continue to shoot lights out, as they were both shooting over 50 percent for the first six minutes. Down 17-13 with 14:39, graduate student Stephen Braunstein drilled a tough corner jumper, which senior Mike Goodall followed with a three to put the Ducks up 18-17. The equalizer for DeSales was Mason Barnes, who started 4-4 from deep to open the game, including hitting one to tie the game at 20. The Bulldogs scored six of the next eight to take a slim four-point lead, which was trimmed to one following a three from the right wing by first-year Tommy Scholl. Graduate student Tommy McGuire was able to make back-to-back baskets in less than a minute, while Singh got two offensive rebounds and scored a layup all in one possession to force a DeSales timeout. That made the score 38-36 in favor of DeSales with 3:30 left on the clock. The Ducks would trail 45-38 at the break. 

The Bulldogs scored the first five of the half to take a commanding 12-point lead. Braunstein came down and made a floater in the lane to get back to within ten, but DeSales continued to stay hot, scoring the next ten to go up 20. Braunstein would score the next four, but the deficit wouldn't. Stevens would start to make a comeback, as with 8:35 to go, Singh converted an and-one on the fourth shot of the possession to make the score 66-51. Still down 70-51 following a timeout from head coach Bobby Hurley, Stevens went on a 7-0 run, capped off by a three from Spellman. With 3:30 remaining, Spellman made another three to cut the DeSales lead to single digits. Coffey then joined in from deep, making a pull-up triple with 1:48 left to get the Ducks back to within six. 30 seconds remained on the clock after Stephen Braunstein stole the ball in the backcourt and converted an and-one, which got the Ducks to within five at 74-69. Despite the comeback effort for the Ducks, DeSales held on by making their free throws at the end.

Top Performers

• Spellman had 13 points and also grabbed 10 rebounds. He also had four blocks.
• Singh recorded 11 points and had 10 rebounds. He also had three assists and two steals.
• Braunstein scored 16 points.
• Goodall tallied 13 points and grabbed six rebounds.
• Coffey had six points and seven assists.
• Stevens shot 41.4 percent (24-58) from the field and 32.0 percent (8-25) from three. The Ducks also went 13-13 (100.0%) from the line.

The Opponent

• Mason Barnes had 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
• Will Bowen added 17 points.
• Caleb Gibbs scored 10 points and had eight rebounds.
• DeSales shot 54.7 percent (29-53) from the field and 52.9 percent (9-17) from three. They also went 10-20 from the free throw line (50.0%).

Around the MAC Freedom

• Lebanon Valley 73, FDU-Florham 59
• Arcadia 68, Misericordia 62
• Delaware Valley 88, King's 98

Up Next: The Ducks continue conference play at home on Saturday as they host King's. It will be the last home game for the Ducks in the regular season Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. The team will be celebrating senior day. The Ducks are 6-1 all-time against King's, including defeating the Monarchs 93-91 after overtime earlier this season. Jack Spellman had 25 points and 18 rebounds in the contest. Links for live stats and video are posted to stevensducks.com