HOBOKEN, N.J. (December 7, 2010) – Junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) paced three Ducks in double figures with 18 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team won its fifth-straight game on Tuesday, defeating Rutgers University-Camden, 85-61 at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) and junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, as the Ducks ended the game shooting 62.7 percent from the field.
After Camden (0-5) jumped on top early with a free throw, a layup from Cutri put the Ducks on the board and they never looked back, holding the lead for the final 38:41 of game time.
The Ducks pushed the lead to six (7-1) 3:02 in and after the Scarlet Raptors trimmed the advantage to three at 11-8 with 14:29 remaining in the half, Stevens rattled off a 17-2 run over the game's next 8:34 to put the game away. Sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Caldwell, N.J.), sophomore forward Kevin McManamy (Charlotte, N.C.), freshman guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.), and Cutri all had triples in the game-changing run.
Stevens went into the locker room with a 36-20 lead, shooting 59.3 percent from the field and 4-for-10 from three-point range. Jones poured in 12 first-half points and Cutri tallied eight.
Camden did not quit, eventually trimming the Stevens lead to nine (49-40) with 11:48 to play, but the Ducks maintained a solid working margin and slowly extended their lead 17 with 7:26 to go. The Scarlet Raptors battled back, trimming Stevens advantage to 11 (67-56) with 5:32 left, but the Ducks went on a 10-0 run over a span of 2:35 to make it a 21-point game with 2:49 on the clock. Freshman Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) had four of the run's first six points.
A three-pointer from Skrelja with 1:20 left gave Stevens its largest lead of the night at 85-59.
The Ducks connected on 32-of-51 attempts from the field for the game and went 7-for-20 from long range (35.0 percent). They were 14-of-19 from the free-throw line, and continued their solid rebounding, ending with a 32-26 advantage in that department. Stevens has out-rebounded all six opponents this year by six or more. It also racked up 21 assists on the night, including a game-high eight from Thompson.
Smith finished with 18 points and seven rebounds to go along with four assists. He was 5-for-6 from the floor and 8-for-11 from the line. Jones went 8-for-11 from the field in scoring his 17 points, and Cutri hit three three-pointers in tallying his 15. He also pulled down seven boards. Thompson ended the game with nine points, eight assists, two rebounds, and two steals, while Sabatino put in eight and grabbed four rebounds. Skrelja had six points and two assists as head coach Bobby Hurley (Hoboken, N.J.) was able to empty his bench for the first time this season.
Camden shot 42.1 percent from the field (24-for-57), and connected on 9-of-23 threes (39.1 percent). The Scarlet Raptors were led by senior forward Kevin Brown (Port Norris, N.J.) and junior guard Joe Bush (Piscataway, N.J.) in double figures.
Stevens will return to action at Utica College on Friday, December 10 at 8 p.m. It will be the Empire 8 opener for both teams. Visit StevensDucks.com on Friday for links to follow the action.