HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 15, 2013) – The 24th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's basketball team improved to 12-1 with a 66-56 win over the United States Merchant Marine Academy Tuesday night at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J.

After trailing for the much of the latter half of the first period, Stevens clamped down on defense to take a three-point lead into the locker room before extending its lead to 11 behind a 14-6 run over the opening 4:39 of the second. After allowing the Mariners to shoot 50 percent from the field in the first half, the Ducks held the guests to just 23.5 percent in the second, rolling to their sixth double-digit win of the year.

Stevens raced out to a 17-9 margin 6:30 into action, but a 14-1 run from Merchant Marine over a span of 4:08 quickly changed the momentum. The Ducks were able to tread water for the next few minutes, never trailing by more than five points, and came back to tie the score at 25 with a quick 5-0 run. Senior guard Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) started things with a three-point play, and sophomore forward Patrick Sabatino (Westfield, N.J.) finished with a big dunk after a hard drive down the middle of the lane.

The Mariners (9-7) again went up by five (31-26), but the Ducks closed the half on a 10-2 spurt that featured a pair of steals and several stops to take a 36-33 lead into the break.

After going up 11 early in the second, USMMA was able to hang around and kept the Ducks within 13 points but never made a run to really threaten. A three-pointer from Frankie Wiseley (Emmaus, Pa.) pulled the visitors within three, but Sabatino found sophomore forward Kenny Gan (Hillsborough, N.J.) underneath for two. On the next Merchant Marine possession, a Gan block led to a Jones jumper as the Ducks quickly went back up 12, 62-50 with 6:33 on the clock.

Four-straight points from Merchant Marine again trimmed the Stevens lead to eight but stops and 3-of-4 at the line gave the Ducks some breathing room and eventually the non-conference win.

The Ducks shot 42.1 percent (24-for-57) from the field and 15-for-22 (68.2 percent) at the line. They hit just three of 17 attempts from long range, but remarkably had nine blocks and 11 steals as a team. Merchant Marine ended with a 43-38 margin on the boards.

Stevens was led by senior guard Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) who had 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Thompson had 14 points, two assists and a steal, with junior guard Matt Skrelja (Clark, N.J.) getting 10 points, six rebounds, four steals, three assists and a block. Gan finished with eight points, five rebounds and two blocks, while Sabatino had eight points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Junior forward Max Schwartz (Bridgewater, N.J.) had six points, three boards and a steal off the bench.

Junior forward Reed Buck (Lawrenceville, Ga.) led the Mariners with 13 points, while freshman forward Andrew Williams (Lantana, Texas) and junior forward Nick Sergio (Patchogue, N.Y.) each tallied double-doubles. Merchant Marine shot 35 percent (21-for-60) for the game and went 2-for-12 from three.

Stevens will return to action when it hosts Nazareth College Friday night at 8 p.m. in a key conference contest. The game will be webcast live at www.Empire8.TV and Stevens will also be unveiling the all new Quack Pack.

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