ONEONTA, N.Y. (February 18, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team dropped its regular-season finale at Hartwick College Saturday afternoon by a score of 91-76. With the win, the Ducks fall to 19-6 overall and 10-4 in the Empire 8. Hartwick clinches the top seed in next weekend's conference tournament and improves to 23-2 overall and 12-2 in the E8. Stevens was led by 22 points and 13 rebounds from senior forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.).
Stevens outscored the Hawks 8-3 in the first 2:09, but for much of the first half and the entire game, the Hawks were on top. Down five, Hartwick went on an 11-0 run to take a six-point lead 5:01 into the action. That lead kept growing and jumped to 11 following a layup from sophomore Jared Suderley (Newport, N.Y.).
The Ducks were able to keep it in single digits for the next few minutes before an 8-0 Hartwick spurt over a span of 2:55 pushed the margin to 17 with 7:43 remaining in the half. The margin grew to 19 before the two teams went into the locker room with the scoreboard showing 49-33 Hawks.
Hartwick shot 54.3 percent from the field and went 6-for-15 from long range in the first half. The Ducks were 13-for-33 (39.4 percent) from the field and 2-for-12 from three-point land.
The Hawks pushed the lead to 19 35 ticks into the second but the Ducks were able to fight back, cutting the lead to eight (57-49) with 15:17 to play after a Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) jumper. Stevens was unable to get much closer, and anytime the Ducks got some momentum going, it seemed the Hawks would have the answer.
The Hartwick lead hovered between 10 and 14 for much of the next 10 minutes, and twice Stevens was within nine, but the Ducks could go no further, eventually falling, 91-76.
Hartwick shot well all night and just would not allow the Ducks to get tighter than eight points in the final 32-plus minutes. The Hawks finished the game shooting 56.7 percent (34-for-60) from the field and 9-for-23 (39.1 percent) from three. The Hawks were 14-for-20 (70 percent) at the line and had better than a 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio (21 assists, 10 turnovers.
Suderley finished with 25 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Christian Laputka (Freeland, Pa.), sophomore guard Anthony Keane (Staten Island, N.Y.), sophomore forward Mike Geisser (East Hanover, N.J.) and senior forward Chris Ryder (Port Washington, N.Y.) were all in double figures for the Hawks.
Stevens finished shooting 45.7 percent (32-for-70) from the field and 4-for-23 (17.4 percent) from long range. The Ducks were 8-for-11 at the line and ended with a 38-31 edge on the boards.
Smith finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for his 19th double-double of the season, and Jones poured in 22 points, pulled down four rebounds and handed out a team-high five assists. Junior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) had 14 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) had eight points, five boards and two helpers.
The Ducks will now turn their attention to the Empire 8 Championship next weekend. Hartwick, the regular season champ, will host the tournament and be the top seed. The Ducks will be seeded second or third depending on the result of the Nazareth College – St. John Fisher College game slated for 8 p.m. Saturday night. With a win, Naz would earn the second seed and face Stevens as the third seed. With a loss, Ithaca College would earn to No. 3 seed and face the Ducks as the second seed. Visit www.StevensDucks.com Sunday morning for an updated schedule.