Men’s Basketball hit a four-win streak, following this 72-63 win over Rutgers-Newark on Sunday, November 26.
In the season-opening game against No. 17 Catholic University, graduate student Stephen Braunstein managed 18 points, with junior Jack Spellman adding another 16. First-year Harmehar Chhabra and graduate student Conor Coffey followed close behind, dropping 10 and nine points respectively. Still, it wasn’t quite enough to secure their victory, as the Ducks faced a 74-79 loss on Saturday, November 11. This is the fourth year in a row that the Ducks have lost the season opener, and the second in a row loss to Catholic University.
Wednesday, November 15 marked not only the beginning of the Ducks’ comeback but also Braunstein reaching 1,000 career points, 16 of which were during this game, 34 in total being as a Duck, and the remaining 971 occurring during his undergraduate years at the University of Scranton. He, along with first-year Xander Sinh, scored the first 10 points of the game for the Ducks, a boost towards their 33-22 lead at half. Spellman and first-year Kyle Maddison scored 14 and 12 points throughout the game respectively, eventually leading to the Ducks’ 70-44 victory.
Just three days later, on Saturday, November 18, the Ducks visited Braunstein’s former home turf of the University of Scranton, bringing home an 85-62 win. Major contributions came from first-year Tommy Scholl who achieved a career-high of 14 points and five assists, alongside Spellman and Braunstein who both saw another 13 points added to each of their career tallies.
Braunstein reached a game-high of 18 points when the Ducks took on Baruch College on Tuesday, November 21. Spellman seized 19 rebounds, a career-high, as well as a team-high since alumnus Alec Dipietrantonio managed 20 in a win over Baruch in 2021. Faced with an administrative technical foul against them at the beginning, the Ducks accomplished a seven-point lead at the first half. The second half of the game saw fewer points from both teams, but Stevens remained strong with a six-point margin, leading to their eventual win of 65-52.
This past Sunday, November 26, Braunstein saw a season-high of 21 points and went 9-10 in free throws. Coffey also reached a season-high of eight assists, and Spellman, along with 13 points, made a team-high of seven rebounds. The Ducks fell behind in the second half by a mere two points, but with an 11-point margin in favor of the Ducks at break, the team finished with a 72-63 victory.
After facing St. Joseph’s University Long Island this past Wednesday, November 29, the Ducks will take on Hood College tomorrow, Saturday, December 2, in Frederick, MD.
