With the opening of the men’s and women’s basketball season, both teams have managed to cinch two consecutive wins early on in the season. With wins from the men’s team against Baruch College on November 26 and Rutgers-Newark on December 1, and wins from the women’s team against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) on November 23 and Hunter College on November 26.
On November 26, the men’s team took the win over Baruch with a final score of 75-53.The Ducks pulled the win with the efforts of sophomores Tommy Scholl with a game-high of 18 points and Kyle Maddison with 17 points, junior Brendan Coughlan, graduate student Mike Goodall, and senior Jack Spellman. Despite Baruch taking an early lead, Goodall put in a three-pointer, giving Stevens the lead. The Ducks and Bearcats took turns swapping the lead, eventually ending the first half 40-25 in favor of Stevens. Yet again, Baruch took the lead in the second half before Stevens outscored them 24-8 over the last 9:28, making the second half end with a score of 35-28, and giving the Ducks the overall win.
After that, the men’s team headed to Newark on December 1 to go up against Rutgers-Newark, where the Ducks took them down in overtime with an ending score of 81-78. Spellman scored 20 points marking a season-high, along with points scored by Maddison, Scholl, Goodall, Coughlan, and graduate student Lucas Green. The Ducks and the Scarlet Raiders battled for the lead throughout the first half, and despite the Ducks’ best attempt at narrowing the lead, the Scarlet Raiders took the first half with a score of 27-30, in their favor. The second half opened with Rutgers-Newark giving their best effort, but all of their attempts were met by points scored by the Ducks. The game was tied with 1:17 left on the clock, and was eventually pushed into overtime. Stevens outscored Rutgers-Newark 12-9 during overtime, and took the win.
The women’s team faced TCNJ on November 23, where they defeated the Lions 72-64. With points by top scorers junior Leyla Castro with 24 points and sophomore Kay Decker with 20 points, and juniors Isabella Duval, Olivia Schubiger, and Dorothy Loffredo. The Lions started the first quarter off strong, taking a quick lead against the Ducks. However, they made a quick comeback late in the first quarter, ending it with a 16-13 lead. The two teams swapped shots throughout the second quarter, but ultimately Stevens outshot TCNJ, and finished the first half up 10. The Lions were able to cut the deficit in the third quarter, and outscored the Ducks 12-7. This narrowed the Ducks’ lead to 5 for the final quarter. With a score of 22-19 in favor of the Ducks in the final quarter, they were able to win the game with 8 points on TCNJ.
Next, on November 26, they went up against Hunter College where they faced a win with a final score of 78-64. The top scorers of the game were Loffredo, Castro, Decker, and first-year Katherine Bogutsky, with points also scored by sophomore Zoe Kashner. Similarly to TCNJ, the Hawks took the lead in the first quarter, and despite the Ducks’ best attempts, they were outscored 18-17 in the first quarter. Mid-second quarter, the two teams were tied at 29, but the Ducks took the lead, entering the half up seven points. The Ducks extended their lead to double digits in the third, and ended with a 17-point lead. Despite the Hawks out-scoring the Ducks in the final quarter, the Ducks’ lead was too strong and Stevens gained the win.
It was a strong week for both teams with consecutive wins. They can be seen again continuing their winning streak, with the men’s team up against Widener University in Canavan Arena at 1 p.m., and the women’s team traveling to Trinity College (CT) for a 1 p.m. matchup, both on December 7.
