TROY, N.Y. (January 3, 2011) – Sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) drained 4-of-5 three-pointers en route to a game-high 18 points as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 7-1 on the 2010-11 season with an 85-71 win at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Monday night. Thompson, sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.), junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.), senior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), and junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) all scored in double figures for the Ducks.
After a lot of back-and-forth early in the action, RPI (6-4) was able to open up an 11-7 lead 5:25 into the game following a three from senior guard Jeremy Bull (Woodbridge, Va.). Stevens answered quickly with a 15-4 run over just 3:58 and held a seven point advantage midway through the first half. The Ducks buried three three-pointers in the spurt, the last one coming from freshman forward Kevin McManamy (Charlotte, N.C.).
The Engineers came right back with seven-straight points to tie the game at 24-all, and after the Ducks went back up five on two separate occasions, RPI scored seven of the opening half's last eight points to take a 38-37 lead into the intermission. The Engineers' bench scored 30 of its 38 points in the first.
After the game's fifth tie with 14:44 left, Stevens began to take control and opened up a five-point lead of its own at the 14-minute mark. The lead slowly grew, getting to seven with 10:30 left after a Smith layup and then 10 with 9:38 to play following one of Thompson's four triples.
After that Thompson three, RPI was able to cut the lead to eight once, but the Ducks were turned up the defensive intensity and maintained a solid working margin the rest of the way. The lead swelled to 17 after another three from Thompson with 3:46 to go and the Engineers did not get closer than 12 in the final minutes.
Smith had a big game for Stevens, scoring 14 points and pulling down 12 rebounds in his fourth double-double of the season. Cutri went 2-for-3 from long range on his way to 12 points, pulling down six rebounds, notching five assists, and one steal, while Jones had 15 points and six boards. Franklin had 10 points and five rebounds, and McManamy was the Ducks' lead scorer of the bench with eight points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the floor (2-for-2 from three-point range).
Stevens, which is shooting over 50 percent from the field for the season, went 32-of-61 (52.5 percent). Even more impressive, the Ducks connected on eight of their 10 attempts from three-point land, including all four of their triples in the second half. Stevens went 13-for-19 from the foul line and ended the game with a 44-33 edge on the glass.
Senior forward Mike Brion (Nashua, N.Y.) led RPI with 16 points, and freshman guard Joe Gibbons (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) tallied 10.
RPI shot 38.9 percent from the field (28-for-72) and went 9-for-27 from three (33.3 percent).
The Ducks will travel north this Friday and Saturday for big Empire 8 road games at Rochester Institute of Technology and Nazareth College. Visit www.StevensDucks.com later this week for links to live stats and video.