ROCHESTER, N.Y. (February 11, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team dropped a 77-61 decision at Nazareth College on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Golden Flyers improve to 9-4 in the Empire 8 and 16-8 overall, while the Ducks fall to 19-5 overall and 10-3 in the conference with the loss. Hartwick College defeated St. John Fisher College 64-62 in other Saturday action to remain in first place (11-2). Stevens is in second (10-3) and Naz is in third (9-4) with one E8 game remaining for each squad.

 Knotted at 10-all 4:20 in, the Ducks went on the game's first run, outscoring the Golden Flyers 8-0 over a span of 1:37 to open an 18-10 margin with 13:44 left in the first half.

 Stevens' lead hovered between four and nine for the next eight-plus minutes before the Golden Flyers ended the opening period with a 16-3 spurt over the final 5:11. Naz buried a trio of three-pointers in the run, two from senior guard Phil Scaffidi (Buffalo, N.Y.), to take a 37-34 lead into the locker room.

 Senior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.) led the Ducks with 10 first-half points, while junior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) and senior guard Michael Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) each tallied eight.

 The two teams traded baskets to start the second before Golden Flyer center Greg Lothridge (East Syracuse, N.Y.) went off, outscoring the Ducks 10-2 over just 4:03 of game time to help the hosts open a 57-47 lead with 8:57 to go.

 The lead moved to 16 with 6:50 left thanks to a three-pointer from sophomore forward Brad Ford (Victor, N.Y.) and then 20 moments later as the Ducks were never able to get closer than 12 the rest of the way.

 Stevens shot 40 percent (23-for-58) from the field and was just 2-for-15 (13 percent) from three-point land. Naz ended with a 40-36 edge on the glass.

 The Ducks were led by 17 points and five rebounds from Jones. Smith finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Cutri had 10 points, five boards and three assists. Junior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) had 10 points, four boards, and two helpers.

 Naz was led by Lothridge who scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Scaffidi finished with 16 and Ford had 14. The Golden Flyers shot 41 percent (26-for-63) from the field but hit nine (of 25) three-pointers. They also had 18 assists and just eight turnovers.

 Stevens will return to action next Saturday afternoon at Hartwick in the regular-season finale at Lambros Arena. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. from Oneonta, N.Y.

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