MADISON, N.J. (November 23, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 3-1 on the 2010-11 season with a hard-fought, 65-62 win over Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham on Tuesday night at the Ferguson Recreation Center in Madison, N.J. Sophomore guard Russ Thompson led four Ducks in double figures, pouring in 18 points.
FDU-Florham (1-3) started strong, jumping to an early 5-1 lead, and opening a six-point edge midway through the first half (14-8) after sophomore guard Alex Rosario (Bound Brook, N.J.) converted 1-of-2 at the line.
Sophomore guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) brought the Ducks within three when he connected from long beyond the arc with 9:03 left in the first half but the Devils answered with a triple from junior guard Adam Katz (Wharton, N.J.).
Trailing 17-13, Stevens went on an 8-1 to open a 21-18 lead with 4:18 remaining in the first half. After the two teams traded buckets, Stevens pushed its lead to four after a three-pointer from sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) but FDU trimmed the lead back to one thanks to the third triple of the half from Katz.
Thompson hit another three with under one minute on the clock but sophomore guard Mike Williamson (Piscataway, N.J.) and Katz combined to score the last five points of the half and the Devils went into the locker room with a one-point lead, 30-29.
Stevens shot 10-of-26 (38.5 percent) from the floor and 33 percent (3-of-9) from deep. The Ducks hit on 60 percent of their free throws (6-of-10) and out-rebounded the Devils, 20-14. FDU hit six three's and shot 42.3 percent from the field (11-of-26).
The Ducks opened the half with six-straight points to open up their largest lead (five) of the game with 17:34 left, and after the two teams traded baskets, the Ducks upped the advantage to seven when Thompson found Cutri for a layup.
FDU scored five-straight points to cut the lead back down to two (39-37) with 14:20 left, but the Ducks had the answer, getting a three from sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.), a stop on the other end, and triple from Cutri to open up an eight-point lead with 13:09 remaining. Both were assisted by Thompson. Jones then converted a jumper to give Stevens its first double-digit lead of the night.
The Devils did not quit, rallying off a 10-2 spurt to make it a two-point game with 9:15 left in the game. The back-and-forth affair continued as the Ducks went on a 10-4 run over the next 3:20 to push the lead back to eight (59-51) with 5:20 in regulation. FDU sliced the lead to four at 59-55 with 3:41 left.
The score did not change for 2:30 before FDU's senior center Ricky Fetske (Galloway, N.J.) scored three the old fashioned way to make it 59-58 with 1:11 left. Franklin hit a pair from the foul line with 56 seconds left to push the lead back to three, but Katz hit a pair at the line to make it 61-60 Ducks with 25 seconds left. Jones was fouled on the inbounds and hit both free throws to push the lead back to three with 23 seconds left. Devil freshman Trevor Sykes (Staten Island, N.Y.) had a chance to tie after being fouled on a made layup but could not sink his foul shot and Franklin grabbed the rebound and after being fouled, hit both of his foul shots on the other end.
The Devils were not able to hit a three at the buzzer as the Ducks escaped with a 65-62 win.
Thompson had 18 points, four assists, and three thefts to lead four Ducks in double figures. Franklin was solid, netting 12 points and pulling down six rebounds, while Jones had 15 points, five rebounds, and three helpers. Cutri added 10 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
The Ducks were 23-of-59 from the floor (39.0 percent) and 7-of-21 from three (33 percent). They hit on 12 of their 19 free-throw attempts.
Katz scored a game-high 19 points to lead FDU-Florham and Sykes had 15. The Devils shot 35.6 percent from the field and 30.4 percent from three. They went 13-for-23 from the line.
Stevens ended with a 47-36 advantage in rebounds and assisted on 13 baskets. They totaled eight steals, three blocks, and had 18 turnovers.
The Ducks will return to action at Kean University on November 29 at 7 p.m.