HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team roared back from a 14-point first-half deficit for a 71-62 victory over the Lebanon Valley College Dutchmen in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom action Saturday afternoon from Canavan Arena.

Mike Goodall and Tommy Scholl each finished with 17 points, Jack Spellman posted a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Kyle Maddison made it four Ducks in double figures with an 11-point effort.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Lebanon Valley came out firing on all cylinders, hitting six of its first seven from the floor, including a 4-for-4 clip from beyond the arc, opening a 16-2 lead at the 15:28 mark, a Harmehar Chhabra layup accounting for Stevens' lone points during that stretch.

Out of a Ducks' timeout, the Red and Gray minimized further damage, trading baskets with the Dutchmen over the following several possessions before a Maddison three-pointer and Coughlan layup worked the deficit back to seven, 18-11, drawing a timeout from the Lebanon Valley sideline.

The Dutchmen scored the next five, but a Lucas Green free throw, three's from Scholl & Goodall, and a Goodall steal-to-layup pulled Stevens within five, 25-20, with 4:30 left, the closest it had been since Lebanon Valley led 6-0 at the 18:30 mark.

Stevens (16-3, 8-0) trimmed the margin down to a single point in the final minute before a late Dutchmen three made it 36-32 at the break. Scholl had five, Goodall had three, and Spellman & Maddison each had two for the Ducks in the closing stretch of the half.

Goodall and Spellman (twice) answered a pair of Dutchmen jumpers early in the second half with a three and a pair of layups, again pulling Stevens within a single point, 40-39. After a pair of Dutchmen free throws, Scholl poured in five straight, giving Stevens its first lead of the game, 44-42. Maddison and Goodall followed with back-to-back three's and Scholl added a layup as the Ducks suddenly found themselves up 10, thanks to an 11-0 run that spanned less than three minutes. Matt Leming, Spellman, and Green increased the lead to 15, 60-45, with a three, a pair of free throws, and a layup, respectively.

Lebanon Valley pruned the deficit down to 11 on four separate occasions, but a Coughlan layup, Goodall jumper-plus-free throw, two Spellman free throws, and free from Maddison after a flagrant foul kept Stevens in front by double digits until the final minute, when eight straight from the Dutchmen sliced a 15-point Stevens' lead seven with 64 seconds left, but that was as close as it got as Stevens closed out the win with two free throws while forcing misses from Lebanon Valley on its final two shot attempts.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stevens finished with 19 offensive rebounds, its highest total in the last eight games, and scored 18 second chance points (Lebanon Valley finished with five offensive rebounds and five second chance points
• Defensively, the Ducks forced 19 turnovers, the third time in the last four games they forced at least 19 after forcing no more than 17 in any of their first 14 games this season.
• All 10 Ducks who played recorded at least one steal, part of a season-high 14-theft effort for the team.

 
UP NEXT
Stevens hosts Arcadia Wednesday night, February 5, at 7 pm at Canavan Arena; Stevens won 76-55 in Glenside, Pa. on January 15.

#AllRise