ROCHESTER, N.Y. (February 5, 2011) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team closed out the road portion of its schedule with a huge 64-48 win over St. John Fisher College on Saturday afternoon at Manning & Napier Gymnasium in Rochester, N.Y. The Ducks held the Cardinals to 30.4 percent shooting from the floor with smothering defense as they improve to 8-3 in the Empire 8 and 15-5 overall. Stevens was led by senior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) with a game-high 18 points, six rebounds, and three blocks, and junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) who had a 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Ducks came out with excellent defensive intensity, holding Fisher to just 1-for-9 shooting in the opening five-plus minutes of action to take an early 8-2 lead. After Fisher trimmed the lead to four, Stevens was able to continue with the pressure, extending the margin to seven at 13-6 with 12:27 to play in the first after a gorgeous spin move on the right block by Smith.
Fisher eventually was able to get things going, cutting the Stevens lead to two at the nine-minute mark, but the Ducks responded quickly, with eight-straight points to up the advantage to 10 (22-12) with 6:57 to play. Sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.), freshman guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.), freshman forward Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.), senior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), and Smith all had buckets in the run.
The Cardinals were able to outscore the Ducks 12-7 over the final 6:26 of the first, and the two teams went into the locker room with Stevens holding a 29-24 advantage. Stevens shot 50 percent from the field, while holding the Cardinals to 32 percent. Smith led the Ducks with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and six rebounds.
Stevens opened the second half with a stop and a Smith three-point play after a pretty look underneath by sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.), and extended the lead back to double-digits (36-26) after junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) found Thompson for a 15-foot jumper in transition. Another stop on the Cardinals next time down led to a jumper from Jones which gave the Ducks 36-24 edge with 16:04 left in regulation.
A Jones triple from the right wing gave Stevens its biggest advantage of the afternoon (14 points) a little less than five minutes into the second stanza. Fisher was able to get within nine at the 11-minute mark. Following a pair of free throws from Franklin to get the Stevens lead back to 11, Fisher ran off four-straight points to get within seven with a little under nine minutes to play.
A put-back from Cutri, two stops, and a make from Franklin helped Stevens get the lead back 11, and after two points for Fisher freshman forward Brent Harder (Monument, Colo.), Cutri nailed a deep three to help Stevens open up a 12-point lead with 6:12 on the clock.
Five-straight points from the Cardinals cut the lead to seven but a nice move underneath from Franklin slowed the momentum and handed the Ducks a nine-point lead with under four minutes left.
Fisher was unable to get the stops it needed as a cutting Jones kicked out to a wide-open to make it 58-48 Ducks with and after a stop, two Franklin foul shots put Stevens on top by 12 with 1:17 showing on the scoreboard to put the game away.
Smith shot 7-for-9 from the field and 2-for-6 from the line to account for his 16 points and 11 of his 12 rebounds were defensive in what was his 12th double-double of the season. The Ducks, which shot, 25-for-51 (49.0 percent) from the field, had four players in double figures. Franklin led the way, shooting 6-for-8 from the field and was clutch at the line down the stretch, totaling 18 points.
Cutri had 13 points and six rebounds, while Jones added 11 points and five boards. Thompson finished with four points and six assists. Stevens ended the game with a 37-33 edge on the glass and only committed nine turnovers.
Fisher was keyed by 15 points from junior guard Jordan Gettings (Cohoes, N.Y.) and 14 from senior forward Brandon Witte (Baldwinsville, N.Y.). In addition to hitting just 30.4 percent of their field-goal attempts, Fisher was 3-for-18 from long range and 11-for-18 from the line.
Fisher is now 8-4 in the Empire 8 and the Ducks are 8-3. Ithaca College, which lost to Utica College on Saturday is also 8-3. Hartwick College downed Fisher Friday night but lost to Alfred University Saturday and is now 7-3 in the conference.
The Ducks, who now have five-straight Empire 8 home games left on their schedule, return to action on Friday night vs. Nazareth College. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. and all the action can be seen live at www.PennAtlantic.com.