UTICA, N.Y. (December 7, 2012) – The 25th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team opened Empire 8 play with a convincing 72-59 win at Utica College Friday night to improve to 6-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference.
Stevens, playing as a ranked team for the first time since February of 2008, led for the final 39:04 of game time. The Ducks were ahead by double digits over the game's last 22 minutes, and were led by 20 points apiece from senior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) and senior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.). Thompson went 6-for-6 from three-point range in the win.
The Ducks jumped on top 9-3 just 2:14 in behind a pair of buckets from sophomore forward Kenny Gan (Hillsborough, N.J.) and five points from Jones. The Pioneers trimmed the lead to four, but back-to-back three-pointers from Thompson gave Stevens its first 10-point lead of the night, 15-5, with 14:42 left in the first.
Utica outscored Stevens 10-4 over the next 3:41 to get within four points, but a 7-0 spurt from the Ducks quickly pushed the margin back to double digits with Jones accounting for five points.
The two teams traded baskets over the next several possessions before Jones' second three of the half gave Stevens a 34-20 margin with just over two minutes left in opening period, and the Ducks ended up taking a 34-22 lead into the break.
Stevens hit five three's in the first half (5-for-11) and shot 46.4 percent (13-for-28) from the field. Jones led all scorers with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, with Thompson and Gan each tallying six points. Thompson had four first-half assists, while sophomore forward Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) grabbed seven boards.
Utica shot just 9-for-32 (28.1 percent) from the field and was led by seven points from junior forward Chris Jeffers (Albany, N.Y.).
A 10-3 run to open the second half gave Stevens a 44-25 lead and forced a Utica timeout as Sabatino notched four points and Thompson drilled a pair from long range. The Pioneers answered with 6-0 spurt to get make it a 13-point game (44-31) with 14:48 left in the second, but the Ducks did a nice job slowing any momentum Utica had to keep the lead between 13 and 18 inside of 10 minutes to play.
Four-straight points from Sabatino pushed the lead to 20 with 8:11 on the clock, and five more from Jones, including his third three-pointer made it 68-43 with 6:52 left. A Sabatino layup capped the run at 11 to put the Ducks on top by 27 points and Stevens cruised the rest of the way.
Jones had 20 points, two rebounds and one steal, while Thompson had 20 points and four helpers. Sabatino was excellent, scoring 16 points, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds and recording a pair of blocked shots. Junior guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) had four points, three steals and a game-high eight assists, while Gan finished with six points, six blocks, five boards and two assists in a solid game. Junior guard Phillip DeSeignora (Boston, Mass.) led Stevens off the bench with six points, a steal and a rebound.
The Ducks shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the field and 41.7 percent (10-for-24) from three. They shot 6-for-8 from the line, had nine blocks, 17 assists and just 11 turnovers (four in the second half). The two teams each grabbed 36 rebounds.
The Pioneers were led by 12 points from senior center Alex Meyer (Salt Point, N.Y.) and a double-double – 11 points, 10 rebounds - from junior forward Connor Maisch (Kingston, N.Y.). Utica shot 42.1 percent from the field and 35 percent from three. The Pioneers were just 4-for-12 at the line and had 15 turnovers (21 assists).
Stevens will return to action Sunday at No. 21 New York University in its final game of 2012. Game time is set for 2 p.m. in Manhattan.
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