HOBOKEN, N.J. – Four players finished in double figures and six finished with at least eight points for the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team in a 90-79 season-opening win over Rutgers-Newark Tuesday night from Canavan Arena.
Tommy Scholl finished with 20 points and eight rebounds (both team-highs) while
Kyle Maddison made 9-of-10 from the foul line in an 18-point effort.
Harmehar Chhabra added 15,
Matt Leming dropped 13,
Anthony Loscalzo had nine, and
Evan Gutkowski pitched in with eight for the Ducks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Ducks set the tone early, with back-to-back three's by Maddison and Leming plus layups from Chhabra and Gutkowski putting them up 10-2 early. The Scarlet Raiders worked the margin back to 12-10, but a Leming four-point play and
Brendan Coughlan layup put it right back at eight, 20-12, at the eight-minute mark. The remainder of the half followed a similar model, as Rutgers-Newark closed to within one possession on multiple occasions, but could not jump in front, eventually tying the game at 33 in the final minute of the half before a late Maddison free throw kept the Ducks in front at the break. Maddison, Leming, and Scholl combined for 22 of the team's 34 in the opening 20 minutes.
Early in the second half, back-to-back jumpers from Loscalzo then back-to-back baskets by Maddison put the Ducks up nine, 47-38, their largest lead of the game but the Scarlet Raiders again kept things close, pulling within four, 50-46, at the 13:08 mark. Once again, the momentum swung back to Stevens, as the Red and Gray reeled off a 15-4 run in less than four minutes, courtesy of a Gutkowski jumper, two Chhabra free throws, Leming three-pointer, Loscalzo three-point play,
Peter Gray three, and Loscalzo jumper.
The lead remained north of 10 to the 5:48 mark, when the Scarlet Raiders made one final push, eventually closing to within four, 75-71, with just over four minutes to play, but that was as close as the Red and Gray let them get, as Scholl closed with eight of the team's final 15 points for a wire-to-wire win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- After shooting 41.9 percent in the first half (13-for-31), Stevens made 13 of its first 21 shots in the second half, finishing 17-for-29 over the final 20 minutes, good for a 50 percent clip for the game (30-for-60)
- Chhabra finished with two blocks in the first half, matching his career-high after accomplishing the feat twice last season
- Maddison knocked down at least one three-pointer for the 31st straight game dating back to the end of the 2023-24 season
- Gutkowski and Adam Enoch both made their debuts as Ducks
- Loscalzo made his first career start, logging a career-high 26 minutes
UP NEXT
The Ducks' four-game season-opening homestand continues Friday night at 7:00 PM against Chapman out of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
#AllRise
