HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 11, 2011) – Sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) hit a jumper from the right elbow with 11 seconds on the clock to lift the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to a thrilling 73-72 win over Nazareth College on Friday night at the Canavan Arena. Jones scored a game-high 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting as the Ducks improve to 9-3 in the Empire 8 and 16-5 overall.

Stevens started off well, jumping out to a 7-0 lead 1:54 into the action and was able to maintain a solid working margin throughout the game's first eight minutes of action. Then the Golden Flyers caught fire.

Nazareth (12-9 overall, 5-7 Empire 8) ended the first half connecting on 10 of its 13 three-point field-goal attempts to open up a 50-40 lead at intermission. Trailing, 20-14 with 12:54 to play in the first, the Golden Flyers canned three-straight triples to take its first lead of the game at 23-20. Sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) buried a three on the Ducks' next possession to tie the game at 23, but Naz continued to thrive from beyond the arc.

A layup from freshman forward Brad Ford (Victor, N.Y.) gave Nazareth its first double-digit lead of the evening, and its largest advantage of the first period was 12 at 50-38 after a triple from sophomore guard Tyshun Stevens (Newark, N.Y.) with 41 seconds on the clock.

Junior center Greg Lothridge (East Syracuse, N.Y.) was big underneath in the opening 20 for Nazareth with 12 points and six rebounds. Junior guard Jason Corletta (Pittsford, N.Y.) had 11 points and was 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while Ford added 13.

Stevens was led by Jones' 15 points and three assists. Thompson had eight and junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) added seven. Senior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) tallied six points and seven boards for the Ducks who shot 51.5 percent (17-for-33) from the field and 4-for-8 from three. Naz connected on 20 of its 36 total attempts from the floor in the first.

The second half was completely different for Naz as the Ducks made several adjustments and turned up the defensive intensity. After the Golden Flyers opened up their largest lead of the game after a Ford triple 1:25 into the second, the Ducks began to chip away. Seven-straight Stevens points over a span of 1:48 trimmed the margin to six, but Nazareth was able to slowly regain a double-digit advantage (60-49) following a Corletta triple with 9:18 left in the game.

From that point on, Stevens ran off 11-straight points to tie the contest at 60 with 5:20 to play. Smith had four points in the run and Franklin recorded a monster three-point play to pull the Ducks even. Ford put the Golden Flyers back up on their next possession, and Jones answered for the Ducks, tieing the game at 64 with 4:08 remaining.

Ford buried a triple to make it 67-64 with 3:06 to go, but Jones two Jones free throws pulled the Ducks back within one at the 2:33 mark. Junior guard Phil Scaffidi (Buffalo, N.Y.) hit a jumper on the next possession for Nazareth, but the Ducks pulled even on their next time down when a driving Jones kicked out to Cutri on the right wing for a long three that touched nothing but net and tied the game at 69 with 1:33 to play.

After Cutri swatted a Corletta jumper, the Nazareth veteran grabbed the loose ball and hit a short jumper to put Naz back on top and as was the case for the entire final five minutes, the Ducks had the answer. This time it was junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) finding an open Franklin on the right elbow for a big 15-footer.

Nazareth was fouled on the next possession and hit one of its two attempts with 26 ticks left to go up by one at 72-71. After a timeout with 23 seconds left,  the ball was inbounded to Jones on the right side. The sophomore made his move, saw daylight and buried the 17-footer with 11 seconds on the clock. Naz was able to get a contested look on the their final possession but could not connect and the Ducks took home the huge Empire 8 win.

After allowing 50 points in the first half, the Ducks held the Golden Flyers to just 22 in the second on just 31 percent (9-for-29) shooting. Stevens, which overcame a 10-point halftime deficit, was a perfect 9-for-9 from the foul line and shot 46.8 percent (29-for-62) from the field. The Ducks were 6-for-15 from three (40 percent).

Jones finished with 25 points, four assists, and three rebounds, and Cutri added 14. Franklin had another strong game with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Thompson  added 11 points, three assists, and three steals. Smith had eight points and a game-high 17 rebounds. The Ducks ended the game with a 39-29 edge on the glass and blocked six shots including three from Cutri and two from Smith.

Naz shot 44.6 percent (29-for-65) from the field and 13-for-20 (65 percent) from long range but were just 1-for-4 from the line. Ford ended the game with 23 points and seven rebounds. Corletta had 16 points and four rebounds, while Lothridge had 14 points, seven boards, and six blocks. Stevens had six points and 10 assists.

The Ducks, still tied for first in the conference at 9-3 with Ithaca College and Hartwick College, will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Rochester Institute of Technology in a key Empire 8 matchup at 4 p.m. All the action can be seen live at www.PennAtlantic.com.