HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 26, 2023) – Graduate Stephen Braunstein tallied 21 points and added a block, while junior Jack Spellman 13 points and seven rebounds, as the Stevens Institute of Technology men’s basketball team defeated Rutgers-Newark 72-63 Sunday afternoon.

The Ducks have now won four-straight games, improving to 4-1. The Ducks are off to the team’s best start since the 2019-2020 campaign, when they went 7-0 to open up the season. Stevens improves to 8-8 all-time against Rutgers-Newark, including winning the last four. The Scarlet Raiders fell to 3-3 with the loss.

Spellman and Braunstein kicked things off for the Ducks as they each made jumpers to give the Ducks a 4-2 advantage. At the 17:17 mark, Braunstein drilled a triple in transition to put Stevens up 9-5. 17 seconds later, senior Mike Goodall made a layup on the break to give the Ducks a six-point advantage. A few minutes later, first-year Kyle Maddison quickly recovered his own inbounds pass and buried a corner three to put Stevens up 14-8. First-year Xander Sinh got involved by scoring four-straight points about midway through the half. He made two free throws and then followed that up with a strong move on the next possession. At the 5:33 mark, Braunstein was able to make another three, but that would be the last field goal Stevens made in the half, as they would maintain a 32-21 lead at the break.

Stevens got off to a quick five-point spurt to start the second half, forcing an early Scarlet Raider timeout. Spellman made a corner three in front of the Stevens bench, while Sinh pump faked his way into a wide open layup on the break. Spellman made another three at the 16:09 point to give Stevens a 21-point advantage, as the Ducks opened the half on a 12-2 run. The two teams traded baskets over the next five minutes as the Ducks lead was cut to 15 at the ten minute point. Stevens did most of their work at the line in the next five minutes, as they held a 60-46 advantage with five minutes remaining, and then went up 16 after a Sinh bucket with 4:52 to go. The Scarlet Raiders cut the lead to single-digits with free throws at the 2:53 point, now only trailing 62-53. They would force a turnover on the next Duck possession, and finished off the steal with a fastbreak layup to get to within seven. Goodall and Spellman would hit big buckets to ease the Scarlet Raider momentum and give Stevens a 68-59 lead with 1:04 remaining. The Ducks would hold on down the stretch by hitting free throws as they improve to 4-1 with the 70-61 win over Rutgers-Newark.

Top Performers

• Braunstein scored a season-high 21 points, including going 9-10 at the free throw line.
• Spellman scored 13 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
• Graduate Conor Coffey had a season-high in assists with eight.
• Maddison scored nine points.
• Sinh scored eight points and tallied six rebounds.
• Stevens shot 49.0 percent (30-57) from the field and 46.2 percent (12-26) from three. The Ducks also went 13-20 (65.0%) from the line.

The Opponent

• Travis Miles had a team-high 16 points.
• Shy’Heed Jenkins-Floyd scored 12 points and added seven assists.
• Russel Ayala added 11 points.
• Rutgers-Newark shot 42.6 percent (26-61) from the field and 36.4 percent (4-11) from three. They also went 7-14 from the free throw line (50.0%).

Around the MAC Freedom

• No teams in action

Up Next: The Ducks close out a three-game homestand on Wednesday when they host St. Joseph’s Long Island. Stevens is 6-2 all-time against the Golden Eagles, including winning the last matchup back in 2007. Links for live stats and video are posted to stevensducks.com

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