Basketball had a jam-packed three-game weekend, one game played each day. On Friday, November 14, the men’s team played in a home game against Chapman University. On the other hand, the women’s team travelled to Boston to play in a two-game tournament against Rochester Institute of Technology and Medgar Evers College on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Both teams picked up one win, as the men won their only game, while the women bounced back for an astonishing win after losing their first.
The men’s game against Chapman took place in the Canavan Arena and started at 7 p.m. The Ducks were looking to continue their positive start to the season after beating Rutgers 90-79 on the same court just three days before. Stevens started the first half strong with four different goal scorers for their first 10 points. Junior Anthony Loscalzo opened the scoring with a three-pointer before being joined by fellow junior Harmehar Chhabra, who scored a layup. A third junior, Tommy Scholl, converted a three-point play before graduate student Evan Gutkowski added another layup to make the score 10-5. The Ducks continued to dominate until they were up 19-5, then even 36-14. Chapman then worked hard to bring the margin back down to 13 points as the first half ended with Stevens leading 42-29. Interestingly, the Ducks ended the half with a scoring percentage of exactly 50%.
The second half started with Stevens keeping Chapman at bay, but not being able to increase their lead. The margin fluctuated between six and 13 points. Scholl had nine of the Ducks’ first 12 points of the half. With the score at 53-45, junior Kyle Maddison managed five points on consecutive possessions, and Chhabra added three straight layups, as Stevens widened the lead to 64-49. As the game reached its conclusion, the lead narrowed as both teams continued to score, but Stevens still comfortably took home the win. Notably, Chhabra scored the most points in this game and finished with a career-high 22 points.
The next day in Boston, the women’s team faced RIT in a very close game. The game started with both teams showing their defensive prowess. Senior Dorothy Loffredo opened the scoring for the Ducks with a two-point basket. It took until the six-minute mark for Rochester to tie up the game 2-2. The scoring then picked up as Stevens scored 9 points to end the quarter 11-2. The second quarter featured a lot more baskets as the Ducks’ lead dwindled to 20-17.
After making just six shots and four free throws in the first half, the Tigers hit seven field goals and all eight of their free throws in the third quarter, seizing a 41-26 lead. Senior Olivia Schubiger had all six points for the Ducks in the quarter. Unfortunately, in the fourth quarter, the Ducks could not close the margin, and the game ended 39-59.
Instead of being disheartened, Stevens woke up the next day invigorated. In their game against Medgar Evers on Sunday afternoon, all 17 Ducks played for at least five minutes, and 10 scored at least six points. Two minutes into the game, Stevens went on a 15-0 run that spanned less than two and a half minutes. Loffredo scored nine of those points. Freshmen Maya Abramson and Ceejay Thomas, and sophomore Fiona O’Boyle all had four points for Stevens in the first 10 minutes. The scoring continued and the margin widened as the first half reached an end of 64-14.Freshman Grace Love knocked down her first two three-point attempts of the second half to continue the Ducks’ rampage. At the end of the half, another freshman, Camryn Kinne, scored the final three-pointer to put the Ducks over the century and end the game 101-36. This is a truly impressive feat, and if this is how they respond to a loss, we can all look forward to what the women’s basketball team has to offer this season.
