Dallas, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team opened Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom play on Wednesday night, falling to Misericordia University, 72-49.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The home side scored the first five points of the game before Kyle Maddison got the Ducks on the board with a pair of free throws 3:10 into the contest. Maddison later pulled Stevens within two at 9-7, but Misericordia responded with four straight points. A three-pointer at the 8:53 mark pushed the Cougars' advantage into double figures before Matt Leming knocked down a triple to trim the deficit to seven.
 
After an Evan Gutowski layup cut the margin to five, the Cougars countered with four consecutive points to regain a nine-point edge. Stevens again closed the gap to four on two free throws from Peter Gray, but Misericordia closed the half on a 17-3 run. The surge was capped by a three-pointer with two seconds remaining, sending the Cougars into the break with a 36-22 lead.
 
Misericordia shot 14-of-34 (41.2 percent) from the floor in the opening half, while holding Stevens to 26.9 percent shooting.
 
Tommy Scholl converted a layup early in the second stanza to bring Stevens within 10 at 39-29, but the Cougars continued to find answers and quickly pushed the margin back out. Harmehar Chhabra, Scholl, and Brendan Coughlan each scored during a 6-2 Ducks run to make it 45-35, yet Misericordia bridged the under-12 media timeout with a 10-0 spurt, holding Stevens scoreless for nearly three minutes.
 
Scholl halted the run with a three-pointer and Chhabra followed with a layup to cut the deficit to 57-40. Both sides then endured a nearly three-minute scoring drought before Misericordia broke through at the 6:35 mark with a free throw. The Cougars continued to stifle the Ducks, holding them without a field goal for six minutes while opening up a 23-point advantage. Chhabra ended the dry spell with an and-one layup off a Scholl assist.

Maddison knocked down back-to-back three-pointers inside the final three minutes to pull the score back under 20, with Chhabra assisting on the second basket.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Maddison led Stevens with 15 points and matched Leming with three three-pointers.
• Gutowski collected a team-high six rebounds.
• Scholl, Leming, and Chhabra each grabbed four boards, while Chhabra added three assists.

UP NEXT
The Ducks host Arcadia University in their first home MAC Freedom contest on Saturday. Tip-off inside Canavan Arena is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.