ELMIRA, N.Y. (January 22, 2011) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 5-2 in Empire 8 play and 11-4 overall with a 68-53 win at Elmira College on Saturday afternoon in Speidel Gymnasium. The Ducks were able to build as much as a 26 point lead midway through the second half and sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.), junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.), junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.), and freshman forward Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) all were in double figures in the win.
After building a 12-point lead in the game's first 20 minutes Thompson gave the Ducks their largest lead of the game with a triple on the Ducks' second possession of the second half.
A technical foul allowed Thompson to ice a pair at the line to up the advantage to 16 and after a stop, a great effort from Smith underneath saw the lead move to 18. A three-pointer from Cutri made it a 21-point game before freshman guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) connected on a jump shot with to put the Ducks on top 53-30 with 12:12 remaining in the game.
Freshman guard Josh Keys (Bel Air, Md.) hit a jumper to get the Stevens lead under 20 but freshman guard Andrew Meszaros (Phoenixville, Pa.) hit a jumper on the right wing and Thompson followed that up with a triple to make the score 58-34 Stevens with 8:50 in regulation. A nifty move underneath from Smith accounted for the Ducks' 60th point of the afternoon and 26-point lead.
Freshman guard Kurt Dutcher (Gaylord, Mich.) brought the Soaring Eagles within 20 but the Ducks were not interested in enabling Elmira to get closer as Cutri followed with a jumper.
Elmira hit three three-pointers in the final three minutes to crawl within 15 points (68-53) but it was far too little too late and the Ducks had their fifth conference win against just two losses.
Cutri had a big game for the Ducks with 14 points and 13 rebounds, while Smith had 11 points and nine boards. Thompson tallied a game-high 15 points, and Sabatino added 10 and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) tallied eight points for Stevens.
Stevens ended the game shooting 51 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three. The Ducks were 11-for-13 from the foul line and outrebounded Elmira, 41-31.
Elmira shot 31.8 percent from the field and 30 percent from the field. The Soaring Eagles were 2-for-4 from the line.
Stevens will return to the hardwood on Tuesday afternoon with a big Empire 8 game at Hartwick College. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m.