On February 5, the men’s and women’s basketball teams went up against Arcadia University, with the men’s team playing at home and the women’s team playing at Glenside, PA. Despite their best efforts, both teams were knocked down by the Knights, the men’s Ducks losing their nine-game winning streak with a narrow loss of 63-66.
With notable play from graduate student Mike Goodall, sophomores Tommy Scholl and Kyle Maddison, and senior Jack Spellman, the men’s team was able to end with 63 points, just barely falling short of Arcadia. They started off strong, with Scholl opening with a pair of layups, Goodall with a three-pointer, and Maddison with another layup. Following that, shots from sophomore Harmehar Chhabra, graduate student Lucas Green, and Spellman narrowed Arcadia’s lead to two. Two free throws from Maddison, a three from Scholl, a jump hook from Chhabra, and a layup from Goodall tied the game at 30. Junior Brendan Couglan and Scholl both hit layups near the end of the first half, but Arcadia still managed to pull ahead with a 36-35 lead.
The Ducks’ efforts continued in the second half with a Chhabra free throw, a layup from Scholl, and a three from Goodall which put them in their largest lead of the game for a few minutes. Green and Goodall both shot threes, with Goodall following up with another three. Layups from Spellman brought the game to a tie at 55, and despite efforts from Spellman, Goodall, Maddison, and Scholl, the Ducks were not successful in passing the Knights’ lead.
The women’s game opened with a strong lead, with shots from juniors Leyla Castro, Audrey Kehoe, Dorothy Loffredo, Olivia Schubiger, and senior Lucy Alberici in the first quarter. Notably two sets of threes made by Castro, which pushed the Ducks to a 17-13 lead by the second quarter. Alberici and Loffredo both made jump shots early in the second, a layup from Castro and a three by junior Isabella Duval set the score gap to eight, and Arcadia was scoreless for roughly four minutes. The Ducks ended the second with a six-point lead.
Early in the second half, Arcadia outscored Stevens 8-0, tying the game at 37 and holding the Ducks scoreless for four minutes. Stevens fell in the third quarter, ending with only seven points, letting the Knights take a three-point lead on the overall game. The Ducks ended strong with a jump shot from Schubiger and a pair of threes from Castro, but the Knights pulled through with 27 points in the final quarter, pushing the final score to 72-59 for a Knights’ win.
Despite the pair of losses, there were notable accomplishments for both teams. Castro’s double-double was her second of the season, both Loffredo and Alberici scored double-digit points, and Kehoe caught 10 rebounds. Goodall’s attempt in this game gave him at least 17 points in his last three games and 259 for the year, Spellman had a 15+ rebound game, and Maddison extended to a 23-game streak with at least one three-pointer. Both the men’s and women’s teams will be playing again on February 15 against King’s College at Wilkes-Barre, PA.
