Nazareth College led wire-to-wire en route to a 74-67 win over Stevens Institute of Technology Friday night in Empire 8 Men's Basketball action. The Ducks were able to cut a 14-point second half deficit to one on two occasions but could not get over the hump in dropping their first Empire 8 game of the season. Stevens was led by 21 points from junior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.), and the Golden Flyers received 20 points from sophomore forward Brad Ford (Victor, N.Y.) and 17 from senior guard Jason Corletta (Pittsford, N.Y.).

 The loss drops the Ducks to 4-1 in the Empire 8 and 12-3 overall. Naz improves to 4-1 in the conference and 11-5 overall.

 The Ducks got off to a slow start,falling behind 10 seconds in and playing from behind for the entire first half. Naz jumped out 6-1 behind a pair of three and extended its lead to 11 at 16-5 6:09 in.  From that point on, the Ducks chipped away and eventually cut the Golden Flyer advantage to three (30-27) with a pair of stops, a jumper from junior Jones and a three-pointer from senior guard Michael Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) with 3:38 left in the half. The two squads traded buckets the rest of the way and Nazareth went into the locker room holding a 36-31 edge.

 The Ducks were 11-for-29 (37.9 percent) from the floor and hit seven of their 11 free-throw attempts. Naz shot 16-for-30 (53.3 percent) and hit a pair of three-pointers.

 The Golden Flyers came out strong in the second half, forcing a pair of Stevens turnovers and running off six-straight points before a Stevens timeout.

 Nazareth pushed the lead to 14 twice, the last time being 50-36 with 11:52 to play. Stevens was able to fight back with suffocating defense that ignited a 17-5 run that cut the Golden Flyer advantage to two (55-53) with 5:41 on the clock. Back-to-back baskets from sophomore forward Max Schwartz (Bridgewater, N.J.) helped the Ducks get within nine and seven-straight points from junior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.), including the run-capping triple, made it a tight game down the stretch.

 Each team made plays in the final five minutes but an enormous three-pointer from the right wing by freshman guard Jamell Johnson (Rochester, N.Y.) pushed the Golden Flyer lead back to six with 1:55 left. Stevens was able to get two on its next possession, but a foul call on a trap with 48 seconds left and the Ducks down four pretty much ended it.

 Nazareth went 11-for-12 at the line over the final 1:23 to seal the win. The Golden Flyers shot 25-for-55 (45.5 percent) from the field and 20-for-25 at the line. They committed just 10 turnovers and handed out seven assists, while notching five thefts and three blocks.

 Ford went 9-for-12 for his 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Corletta had 17 and went 6-for-6 from the line, while senior guard Phil Scaffidi (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Johnson were in double figures with 10.

 Jones went 8-for-13 from the field, adding six rebounds and three assists to his line, while senior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) had 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Thompson had 12 points and a game-high four assists.

 Stevens ended with a 40-32 rebouding advantage and committed 12 turnovers. The Ducks shot 40.6 percent (26-for-64) from the field and 3-for-13 (23.1 percent) from three. They were 12-for-21 at the line.

 Stevens will return to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher College. All the action will be webcast live at www.Empire8.tv.