Stevens 68, WPI 57 (First round NCAA DIII Tournament)

Mahwah, NJ --- The first round of the 2007 NCAA DIII Men's Basketball tournament commenced at the Bradley Center on the campus of Ramapo College tonight in Mahwah.  In the opening game, Stevens Institute of Technology defeated Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 68-57 advancing to play the winner of Ramapo/York (NY).  Stevens improves to 22-6 on the year while WPI wraps up the 2006-2007 season standing at 22-4.

The teams played even for the first 11 eleven minutes of the first half, to the tune of a 15-15 tie.  Stevens, whose making their first NCAA appearance in the program's history, then quacked on a 12-2 run, taking control of the ball game, 27-17.  WPI climbed back into the game by closing the half on a 7-4 run to cut the deficit to seven, 31-24, heading into the intermission.  Leading the way for the Ducks was Anthony Passalacqua's (Staten Island, NY) 13 points hitting 5-9 from the floor including three three-pointers.  Antoine Coleman (Everett, MA) was WPI's first half high scorer tallying seven.  The Ducks shot 11-26 (42%) as a team ahead of the Engineers 8-21 (38%).

The second half began much like the middle of the first, as Stevens widened the gap to 13, 47-34, as Passalacqua buried his fifth three-pointer of the game with just under thirteen minutes remaining.  WPI engineered a mini-comeback, cutting the Ducks' lead to five, 56-51, with 3:26 to play in the game.  The run was capped by R.C. Grady's (Shirley, MA) jumper, assisted by Adam Lirette (Dover, NH).  The Ducks' lead proved insurmountable, however, as they closed the game on a 12-6 run of their own.  Waleed Farid's (Woodside, NY) steal and subsequent free throws put the game out of reach 61-52, with less than two minutes remaining.

Passalacqua led all scorers with 19 in the game, 5-9 from three-point range.  Falid added 14 points, five rebounds and five steals, while Floyd Morris (East Windsor, NJ) added eight assists for the Ducks.  Ryan Cain (Webster, MA) led the way for the Engineers with 15 points while Coleman tallied 11.  Cain, WPI's all-time leading scorer, saw his outstanding collegiate career end with 1,813 points.

The Ducks were able to overcome a 47% shooting effort from the free throw line.  Stevens wrapped up the night shooting 48%, 21-47, while WPI hit 19 of their 47 attempts, 40%.

Release courtesy Ramapo Sports Information