HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 5, 2011) – Sophomore guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) scored a game-high 23 points and junior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) tallied his 18th double-double of the season to lift the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to a 71-66 win over Mount Saint Mary College on Saturday night at the Canavan Arena in the semifinals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro semifinals. The Ducks will host Rutgers University – Newark on Sunday at 5 p.m. in the title game.

The game's first 20 minutes went back-and-forth with Mount Saint Mary taking a one-point lead into the locker room thanks to a jumper at the top of the key by junior forward Kevin Milella (Floral Park, N.Y.).

The opening moments saw neither team take more than a three-point lead as the Knights opened up a 9-6 advantage following a fast-break layup by freshman guard Donte Howell (Baldwin, N.Y.). Stevens (21-7) came back thanks to five quick points from sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) to go up by two at 11-9.

Another made jumper from Thompson helped the Ducks open up a 15-11 edge with 11:06 left, but Mount Saint Mary came back with six of the game's next eight points to tie the score at 17-all with 7:50 on the clock.

A pair of free throws from Smith gave Stevens a four-point advantage (23-19) with a little more than five minutes in the opening period, but every time Stevens looked in control, the Knights received a big basket and eventually went in the locker room with a 30-29 lead.

The first half saw four ties and 11 lead changes as each team shot around 40 percent from the floor. The Ducks were led by eight points from Jones and seven from Thompson. Junior forward Carlos Valdez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) led MSMC with nine points and six rebounds.

The Knights (19-9) scored the first four points of the second half to open up their largest lead of the game at 34-29, but the Ducks battled back to knot the game at 39 with 15:15 left. Smith tied the game and then tallied the next three baskets to give the Ducks a six point lead they would never relinquish.

A three from sophomore guard Lenny Ragaglia (Staten Island, N.Y.) cut the Stevens lead to three, but the Ducks went on a 14-4 run over a span of 4:28 to open up a 59-46 advantage with 8:18 to play. Jones tallied four points in the run, while freshman guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) and junior guard Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) each canned big three-pointers.

Mount Saint Mary battled back to close within two (61-59) with just 3:45 on the clock, but Jones was too much for the Knights, scoring four-straight points to push the lead back to six with 2:30 remaining. A Valdez three brought MSMC back within three with 15 seconds left, but the Ducks did enough at the line to hold on for the win.

Jones was 7-of-12 from the field and hit 9-of-10 at the line for his 23 points. He also had three rebounds. Thompson was solid for the Ducks, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds, while Smith had 14 points, 12 rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Cutri finished with nine points and six rebounds.

Stevens shot 44.4 percent (24-for-54) from the field and hit three of its 10 attempts from long range. The Ducks were 20-for-25 (80 percent) from the line and ended the game with a 45-36 rebounding advantage.

Milella, Ragaglia, and Valdez were all in double figures for the Knights who shot 36.2 percent (25-for-69) from the field, 27.3 percent (9-for-33) from long range, and just 43.8 percent (7-for-16) from the line.

Stevens, which has eclipsed the 20-win mark for the third time in the program's 95-year history, will host the Rutgers-Newark Scarlet Raiders on Sunday at 5 p.m. in a battle for the ECAC Metro title. Stevens last won an ECAC title after the 2007-08 season. For those unable to make the trip to Canavan, all the action can be seen live at http://stevens.nmtvsports.com.