Annville, Pa. – Jack Spellman posted a 14-point, 22-rebound double-double, finishing the evening one of four Ducks in double figures, as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team opened Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play Wednesday night with a 72-57 win over Lebanon Valley.
Harmehar Chhabra had 15 points to lead Stevens (9-3, 1-0 MACF), with
Kyle Maddison (12) and
Tommy Scholl (11) joining the front court duo in double figures.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a back-and-forth first half that featured 10 lead changes and no lead greater than three points over the first 17 minutes,
Mike Goodall opened the scoring with a pull-up jumper and Chhabra added five for the Ducks in the early going; Spellman scored four straight for the Ducks during a five-minute stretch that featured just eight points combined.
Lebanon Valley took an 18-15 lead at the 8:14 mark, but a
Matt Leming second chance three off a Spellman offensive rebound/assist spurred an 8-0 run, with a Leming free throw, Scholl turnaround jumper, and Maddison layup putting Stevens up 23-18 with just under four minutes left. The Ducks answered two Dutchmen three-pointers with four points from Spellman and a three-ball of their own from Chhabra, sending them to the locker room up 30-24.
Maddison, Scholl, and Chhabra combined for nine points and extended the Ducks' lead to 13, 39-26, in the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half. The Dutchmen trimmed the margin back to five on two occasions by the 12:30 mark, but layups from Scholl and
Brendan Coughlan sandwiched around a Maddison three-pointer put the Ducks back up 12 with 10 minutes to play.
Nine straight from the Dutchmen slashed the Stevens' lead back down to three at the 7:31 mark, but the Ducks responded with a 15-2 answer that all but put the game on ice. Chabbra started the run with a layup and four free throws from Goodall and Spellman pushed the lead back to nine. After a Lebanon Valley jumper, three straight treys from Maddison,
Anthony Loscalzo, and Scholl pushed the lead out to 16 with less than five minutes to play.
That lead did not dwindle below 10 the rest of the way, with the Red and Gray finishing the second half 13-for-15 from the foul line.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Spellman's 22 boards, a career-high, nearly matched the Dutchmen team total of 28, as the Ducks finished the night a season-best +21 on the glass.
- Defensively, the Ducks committed just eight fouls, a season low. Lebanon Valley's two free throw attempts were the fewest by a Stevens opponent since Rutgers-Newark also had just two on December 1, 2019.
- The Ducks set new season-highs with 16 made free throws and an 88.9 percent mark from the line.
- Maddison and Scholl each made at least one three for the 15th straight game, each streak dating back to last season.
UP NEXT
The Ducks host Misericordia in MAC Freedom action Saturday, January 11, at 1 p.m. at Canavan Arena.
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