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Smith Leads Men's Basketball to 67-57 Win Over UticaHOBOKEN, N.J. (January 28, 2011) – Junior forward Simon Smith notched his ninth doubledoubleof the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds and the Stevens Institute of Technologymen’s basketball team improved to 6-3 in the Empire 8 with a 67-57 win over Utica College onFriday night at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Sophomore guard Russ Thompson (WestOrange, N.J.) had 17 points and seven assists in a strong effort for the Ducks.Smith, who has a total of 13 games with double-digit rebounds, added a pair of assists and stealsto his line. Thompson had two rebounds and a steal in addition to his 17 points and seven helpers.Junior guard Mike Cutri ended with nine points and six boards, while sophomore guard SheldonJones finished with seven points, five rebounds, and two assists.For the game Stevens shot 41.5 percent (22-for-53) from the field and 37.5 percent (6-for-16)from three-point land. The Ducks were 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the free-throw line andended the game with a 40-26 advantage on the glass.Utica (8-8 overall, 2-6 Empire 8) shot 40.4 percent (19-for-47) from the field and hit just one of its10 three-point field goal attempts. The Pioneers were 18-for-23 (78.3 percent) at the line andwere led by 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists from senior guard James Paterson(Poughkeepsie, N.Y.). Senior forward Robert Whyte (Pompton Plains, N.J.) had 15 pointsand five rebounds.Each team started slow but once the Ducks took the lead at 6-4 with 16:12 left, they would neverlet it go, quickly upping that two point edge to 10 with 13:06 remaining in the first half after afast-break dunk from Smith.The Pioneers scored the game’s next six points to trim the margin to four (16:12) with 11:21 leftin the half, but the Ducks fired back, going on a 9-1 run over a span of 2:58 to push the advantageto 12. On several occasions Utica was able to get the game back to single digits, but the Duckseventually took a 12-point lead into the locker room.Senior center Bryan Franklin gave Stevens its largest lead of the game (14 points) after two freethrows early in the second and the two teams went back-and-forth over the next five-plus minutesas the Ducks were unable to deliver the knockout punch.Utica sliced into the Stevens lead on several occasions, getting as close as five twice (49-44 and53-48) but the Ducks always seemed to find a big shot. Up 53-48, with 4:21 showing on the clock,Thompson buried a long three from the right wing to push the lead back to eight, and after a Uticabucket on the next possession, a Smith tip-in following a battle underneath took the wind out ofthe Pioneer sails and Stevens cruised to the win.Stevens, now 12-5 overall and 6-3 in the conference, is one game behind Ithaca College and St.John Fisher College who are both 7-2 in the league and a half game behind Hartwick College whois 6-2.The Ducks return to the hardwood on February 1 at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to the College ofStaten Island for non-conference contest.Page 99 of 157