HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 19, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team earned its first win of the 2010 season with a 76-59 win over Hunter College on Friday night at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. in the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament. Sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) led the Ducks with a career-high 18 points as juniors Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) and Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) poured in 17 and 16 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) also played a strong game, scoring nine points and dishing out a game-high nine assists.

The Ducks shot well all night, finishing the game 26-of-47 from the floor (55.3 percent) and 6-of-14 from three (42.9 percent). Stevens (1-1) was also solid from the charity stripe, connecting of 18-of-25 free throws.

Hunter (0-2) was 3-for-23 from the beyond the arc and shot 35.1 percent from the field (20-of-57). The Hawks were 16-of-23 from the free-throw line.

Stevens led from wire-to-wire as Thompson got things going with a made three 40 seconds into the game. The Ducks built an 8-2 lead in the early going but could never pull away in the first half because of turnovers and a resilient Hunter squad. They went into the locker room with a 32-27 lead.

Hunter got as close as three points in the second half at 48-45 with 12:27 to play but the Ducks erupted down the stretch to pull away. Up 52-47 with 10:13 left, the Ducks went on a 16-6 run to open up a 68-53 lead and never looked back. Senior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) sparked the run with six points, while Cutri put in five.

Two Jones free throws put the Ducks up 18 points with 3:16 left and with 1:27 to play Stevens opened up its largest lead (19).

Jones was efficient all night, getting his 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds and picked up a steal. Cutri connected on three triples, had three steals, and three rebounds, while Smith tallied his second double-double of the season, with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The junior also had two assists and two steals.

Thompson was solid all-around for the Ducks with nine points, nine assists, four rebounds, and a steal, while Franklin score seven points and grabbed six boards. He also had a pair of blocked shots.

Hunter was led by senior guard Maxwell Dubois (Hollywood, Fla.) who had 18 points. Senior Panagiotis Koutsoloukas (Marousi, Greece) and junior Mark Courtien (Pelham, N.Y.) each scored in double figures.

The Ducks will take on William Paterson University on Saturday night at 8 p.m. for the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament title. William Paterson defeated Emory & Henry College in the opener. Hunter and E&H will square off in the consolation game at 6 p.m. Both games will be webcast live at www.PennAtlantic.com.