HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team led by 19 points in the first half but could not hold on late as Franklin & Marshall came away with a 77-74 overtime victory Wednesday evening from Canavan Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stevens (4-2) started hot and stayed hot through the majority of the first half.
Anthony Loscalzo had five of the Ducks' first seven in the first three minutes. Layups from
Evan Gutowski and
Tommy Scholl plus a
Kyle Maddison three put the Ducks up 14-6 just past five minutes gone. Three pointers from Scholl and Maddison followed by a
Matt Leming three-point play pushed the Ducks' lead to 10, 13-23, at the 11:16 mark. Loscalzo followed with two three-pointers and a jumper on three consecutive possessions & Leming capped a 14=2 spurt with another three, as the Ducks' lead ballooned to 34-15 at the 8:30 mark.
In all, Stevens started 13-for-17 from the floor and 7-for-8 from beyond the arc, but struggled to find the basket over the final 8+ minutes of the half, finishing 1-for-10 from the floor as a 39-29 halftime lead became a 40-39 lead for the Diplomats at the 15:48 mark of the second half. Stevens answered the 11-0 Diplomats' run to start the half with 16 of the next 23 points over a 6+ minute stretch, re-taking a 55-47 lead – Maddison (twice), Scholl, and Leming all hit three-pointers during the extended run.
The seesaw battle continued as the Diplomats jumped back in front 59-57 with four minutes remaining. Three ties later, F&M (7-1) took a 66-64 lead with 37 seconds left on the clock, but
Harmehar Chhabra rolled a fadeaway just over the front of the rim with 16 ticks left and the Diplomats missed a last-second game-winning three, sending the game to overtime.
Chhabra put the Ducks on his back in the extra session, scoring the team's first seven points, but the Diplomats outscored the Ducks 6-4 at the free throw line and knocked down the only three for either side, as the Ducks fell one basket short.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Maddison scored at least 13 points for the sixth game this season, finishing with a team-high 16
- Loscalzo, who came in with a season-high 12 points, dropped 13 in the first 11 minutes, finishing with 14
- Chhabra had 13, Leming had 12, and Scholl had 11, rounding out the five double-digit scorers for the Ducks
- Gutowski stuffed the stat sheet with four points, nine rebounds, five assists, and three blocks
- As a team, the Ducks shot a season-best 60 percent from beyond the arc (12-20)
UP NEXT
The Ducks play their first of three straight games out of state on Saturday at 3:00 in a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom vs. Commonwealth showdown against Albright.
#AllRise
