The Baruch College Bearcats dropped their season-opener to the Stevens Institute of Technology, 72-64, on Tuesday night in the ARC Arena.

Stevens, the winner of last season's 2011 ECAC Metro Postseason Championship, overcame a halftime deficit (36-28) to outscore Baruch 44-28 in the second half to record the victory.

The Bearcats shot 10-of-26 from three-point range to keep the contest close all evening, but Stevens finished shooting 50 percent (14-28) in the second half to pull away for the victory.

The turning point came at 4:39 remaining with the two teams tied at 58, but Stevens outscored the Bearcats 14-6 the rest of the way to earn the victory.

Mickey Abbatiello and Nathaniel Young led the Bearcats with 12 points each, while Jason Berliner came off the bench to score 11 points and grab four rebounds.

Brian McMahon (6pts, 12 rbs), Calvin Jurewicz-Johnson (9 pts, 7 assts.) and rookie Rob Goldstein (8pts, 5rbs, 3 assts.) all contributed in the game.

Simon Smith led Stevens from the Empire 8 Conference with a double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds.

The men's basketball team will return to action this weekend in Greenwich Village by competing at the NYU Tip-Off Tournament at the Coles Sports Center.

The Bearcats will play on Saturday, November 19, with a 3:00 pm contest against Colby College (Maine) from the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC).