HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 3, 2012) – Stevens Institute of Technology downed Elmira College 71-60 in Empire 8 men's basketball action Friday night at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With the win, Stevens improves to 17-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference. Elmira drops to 0-21 (0-10 E8) with the loss. Prior to the game, Stevens honored its senior co-captains guard Michael Cutri (Cranford, N.J.) and forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) as part of its Senior Night festivities.
Stevens jumped out to an early eight-point lead, scoring 12 of the game's first 16 points, but the Ducks struggled with Elmira's slow-moving offense and the Soaring Eagles got back in the game with a 17-4 run over a span of 6:18 to open a 21-16 advantage with 8:04 left in the first half.
Down five, Stevens answered behind six-straight points from sophomore forward Kevin McManamy (Charlotte, N.C.) to regain the lead but a three-pointer from freshman guard Neil Randolph (Wickow, Ireland) gave Elmira the 24-22 edge with 6:31 left in the first.
The Ducks scored the final six points of the first half and went into the break up 33-29 in an opening 20 minutes that saw four ties and seven lead changes.
Stevens quickly pushed their lead to eight behind four points by sophomore guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) early in the second, but the feisty Soaring Eagles came right back and made it a one-point game at 43-42 with 13:35 left behind five points from Randolph.
Stevens was able to slow the momentum and start to pull away from the 11-minute mark on, using a 10-2 run to open up an eight-point lead and then an 8-2 spurt to turn a six point margin to 12 with 3:40 left. Junior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.), Smith, and sophomore guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) all tallied at least four points in the two runs for Stevens.
After Stevens extended the lead to double figures, the Soaring Eagles were able to trim the advantage to nine once, but could not fight closer and Stevens came away with the 11-point win.
Stevens dominated the paint all night, ending the game with a 39-19 margin on the glass. The Ducks went to the free-throw line for 28 shots and hit 23 of them (82.1 percent) and scored 30 points in the paint.
Stebens ended shooting 48.9 percent from the floor (22-for-45) and went 4-for-13 (30.8 percent) from three-point land. Smith finished with his 16th double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Jones had 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting along with four rebounds, and Thompson added 15 points on 4-for-6 from the field. Skrelja had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards in another solid all-around game.
Randolph and sophomore Dan O'Brien (Springfield, Ore.) each scored 14 points to lead Elmira.
The Ducks are now in a tie with Hartwick College for first place in the Empire 8 standings at 8-2. Hartwick downed Alfred University 64-63 Friday night. Nazareth College, which came in tied with the Ducks and Hawks, fell to Ithaca College to drop into second place.
On Saturday, the Ducks will host Alfred in a game slated for a 4 p.m. start. All the action from the Canavan Arena will be webcast live at
www.Empire8.tv. Stevens will welcome its alumni back to campus and it is also
Super Fan of the Day on Castle Point. All students that attend each of the following will be entered in a drawing for a free Samsung 32-inch TV; men's volleyball at 11 a.m. or 3 p.m., men's and women's swimming at 1 p.m., women's basketball at 2 p.m. and men's basketball at 4 p.m. The winner will be selected at halftime of the men's game.
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