NEW YORK, N.Y. (November 15, 2011) – Senior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) had 26 points and 17 rebounds in a monster performance to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team to a 72-64 opening-night road victory at Baruch College on Tuesday at ARC Arena.  Junior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) finished with 20 points, while junior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) and senior guard Michael Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) were both in double figures as well.

After finishing seventh nationally with 19 double-doubles in 2010-11, Smith started 2011-12 strong, going 10-of-15 from the field, 6-of-9 at the line and handing out a pair of assists.

Jones finished 6-for-12 from the floor and 8-for-11 at the free-throw line, while Thompson finished with 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-3 from three point land.

The Ducks were 24-for-56 (42.9 percent) from the field and 21-of-29 (72.4 percent) at the line but only hit on three of their 15 attempts from three. Stevens had 16 assists and just 14 turnovers and ended with a 43-35 edge on the glass. The Ducks also were plus-three on the offensive boards (12-9).

With the game tied at six 3:47 into the contest, Baruch ran off five-straight points to open up an 11-6 edge but the Ducks came right back to tie the game (11-11) with 14:07 to play in the opening half.

Baruch created some space with a 15-2 run over a span of five-plus minutes, opening up a 26-13 lead with 8:22 left in the first. The Bearcats hit three three-pointers in the spurt and senior forward Nathaniel Young (Brooklyn, N.Y.) accounted for five points.

Stevens came back with 12 of the game's next 16 to get within three (28-25) at the 3:36 mark but Baruch was able to push back enough to head into the locker room with a 36-28 advantage.

The Ducks quickly erased their eight-point halftime deficit, going on a 12-4 run to knot the game at 40-all with 15:46 remaining in the second half. Thompson had eight points, including a three-point play and a three-pointer with Jones accounting for the other four points.

Baruch tallied six consecutive with a dunk from freshman center Brian McMahon (Washington Heights, N.Y.) serving as the exclamation point, but the Ducks quickly came back. Senior co-captain Michael Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) turned a nice look from Thompson into two, and following a Bearcat bucket on their next possession, Cutri found Smith to make it a 48-44 game with 9:55 to play. Smith returned the favor for the Ducks next score, assisting a Cutri layup and the two teams went back-and-forth over the next several minutes.

Stevens took its first lead of the night at 52-51 when sophomore guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) found Jones for an open jumper with 6:28 to play, and four in a row from Smith helped the Ducks to a five-point margin with 5:43 on the clock.

Baruch battled back to take a 58-56 advantage with a rare four-point play from senior guard Micky Abbatiello (Eastchester, N.Y.), but 4-of-6 at the line for Jones on the next three Stevens possessions gave the Ducks a lead they would not let go.

Smith hit 3-of-4 at the stripe over the Ducks' next two times on the offensive end to push the margin to three after a McMahon layup, and Thompson found Smith underneath for a layup with 1:06 remaining to give the Ducks a four-point lead. Stevens went on to make 7-of-8 at the line over the game's final 40 seconds to cement its first opening night win since 2008-09.

Baruch shot 39 percent from the field, 38 percent from three (10-for-26), and went 6-for-12 from the line. Abbatiello, Young, and  junior guard Jason Berliner (Long Island City, N.Y.) all were in double figures, while McMahon finished with six points and 10 rebounds.

Skrelja had four rebounds and three assists for the Ducks, while Cutri added a team-high five helpers and three rebounds to his  10 points. Jones finished with six boards, while Thomspon added three rebounds and a steal.

Stevens will return to action on Friday night when it hosts the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament at the Canavan Arena. Kong's College and William Paterson open the tournament with the Ducks taking on SUNY Purchase at 8 p.m. The two winners will face off for the tournament title at 4 p.m. on Saturday. All the action will be webcast live at www.Empire8.tv.

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