Men’s Basketball Team Ready to get 2009-10 Underway

The Stevens Institute of Technology men’s basketball team opens its season at cross-river rival New York University. When they take to the court, the Ducks will feature a solid group of veterans and a number of new faces as they eye a return trip to the conference tournament and ultimately a berth into the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Stevens went 13-13 overall, 6-10 in the Empire 8 and fell in the quarterfinals of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Metro quarterfinals.

Head Coach Bobby Hurley (Hoboken, N.J.) and the rest of the Stevens coaching staff will look to a pair of senior captains to lead the team throughout the season. Forward Matt Higgins (Freehold, N.J.) played in and started all 26 of the Ducks’ contests in 2008-09. He averaged 8.8 points and 6.0 rebounds in almost 26 minutes per game and hopes to see a solid increase in all of his numbers. In his career, Higgins has played in all 85 games and has scored 527 points and pulled down 354 boards. Forward Ian Masone (Silver Spring, Md.) has been a solid contributor throughout his career in Hoboken. He has seen action in 51 games, and last year, the Maryland native earned more and more minutes as the season progressed. He averaged 15 minutes a game and accumulated 13 blocks and 19 steals in addition to averaging 2.1 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. A tireless worker, Masone will be looked upon to be the vocal, physical, and emotional leader of the Ducks.

“Of course you need and expect your captains to play well,” commented Hurley. “In our case, we need them to lead by example day-in and day-out and keep our focus and intensity up throughout the entire season. Both guys are gritty, intense players and we hope that rubs off on some of our young guys.”

Joining Higgins and Masone in the senior class will be guard George Greco (Rockville Center, N.Y.). Greco returns to the team after sitting out his junior season and will definitely be a nice asset. A good ball handler with excellent vision, Greco will provide some stability and consistency at the point guard position. He will help Stevens at the free-throw line and from long range and should open up the paint for the Stevens big men to operate. As a sophomore, Greco averaged more than 24 minutes per game and dished out 85 assists and should see those numbers increase this season.

Junior center Bryan Franklin (Highlands Ranch, Calif.) and junior forward Christopher McNay (Los Angeles, Calif.) will both see a lot of minutes down low. Franklin has improved his feet, quickness, and strength in the offseason and will look to have more of a presence on the offensive end and on the glass. Franklin played in 24 games in 2008-09, averaging 2.7 points and 3.0 rebounds. McNay played in 13 contests a season ago and like Franklin, he too has gotten stronger and faster and should be more of a force in the paint.

Headlining the sophomore class is 6-5 forward Simon Smith (Cranford, N.J.). An athletic player with great size, Smith had an excellent rookie season for the Ducks, turning in three double-double performances and pulling down double-digit rebounds on six different occasions. He started the last 18 games of the season and saw the court in all 26, averaging 7.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in 22.0 minutes per game. Smith worked incredibly hard in the offseason to gain strength and quickness, and that should translate into better numbers in his second year.

Sophomore Mike Cutri (West Caldwell, N.J.) got more minutes as the season grew and has looked good throughout the preseason. A 36 percent three-point shooter, Cutri ended up averaging 12.4 minutes per game in 2008-09 and was third on the team in three-pointers made (14). He shoots well from the charity stripe (74 percent) and like several other Ducks, increased his strength over the offseason in order to be more of a force on the glass and on the defensive end of the floor.

Sophomore guard Eric Kessler (Medford, N.J.) is a player that has a chance to earn a lot of minutes if he is able to knock down shots and play solid defense. A shooter by trade, Kessler has had a solid preseason and will be a player to keep a close eye on early in the season.

“I expect each and every one of our returners to have a bigger role this year,” said Hurley. “We graduated a lot of minutes and scoring so the opportunity is there for everyone. It will just be a matter of who wants it more.”

Coach Hurley has brought in a talented freshman class that will help fill the void left by the graduation of the team’s top-three scorers from a year ago – Michael Baker (Mesa, Ariz.), Virgil Gray (Elmwood Park, N.J.), and Anthony Passalacqua (Staten Island, N.Y.). Russ Thompson (West Orange, N.J.) is a guard that should get a lot of minutes throughout the year. A strong ball handler with great court awareness, Thompson brings a lot to both ends of the court and will give opposing guards all they can handle whenever he is on the floor. Sheldon Jones (Queens, N.Y.) is a guard that has a knack for finding a way to score. He still has a lot to improve upon but his raw athleticism, speed, strength, and basketball instincts should allow him to see minutes throughout the season. Forward Max Schwartz (Bridgewater, N.J.) came to campus in good shape and has been working hard throughout the preseason. He will provide depth down low and has a nose for the ball which will most definitely help the Ducks on the glass. Guards Jonathan Drosos (Greenwich, Conn.) and Mike Nattis (Woodbury, N.Y.) have also been solid in the preseason, improving with each practice and scrimmage. Both players should see increased roles as the season progresses and will provide Coach Hurley a lot of options off the bench.

As a team, Stevens will focus on defending and hopes to create offense off of its defense. The Ducks field-goal percentage defense was tops in the country in 2007-08 and the coaching staff wants to get back to that area.

“We were okay on defense last year, but this season it needs to be much better,” said Hurley. “In order for us to achieve our goals and have a successful season, it is imperative we play as hard as possible on the defense end every night for the entire 40 minutes.”

The Ducks will also have to improve upon their free-throw shooting. Last year they shot 59 percent and let several winnable games slip away because of it.

After opening with NYU on Sunday, the Ducks will host the Stevens Tip-Off Tournament the following weekend, playing King’s College on November 20 and Babson College on November 22. After two more non-conference contests, the Ducks will open up Empire 8 play at Alfred University on December 5 and at Rochester Institute of Technology on December 6. The game at RIT will be the final game of the first semester as Stevens won’t return to action until December 30 when it hosts Kean University.

After Kean, the Ducks will play their first conference home games of the season on January 2 and 3 against St. John Fisher College and Empire 8 tournament champ Nazareth College. The Ducks will head to Utica College on January 5 and then return home to host Hartwick College on the 10th.

Following the Hartwick game, Stevens will play at conference foes Elmira College and Ithaca College on January 15 and 16 and then non-conference rival Baruch College on January 20. Stevens returns home for Alfred University and the College of Staten Island before visiting Fisher and Naz on January 29 and 30. The Ducks return home for Utica College in their first February game of the season and then embark on their final road trip to Rutgers University-Camden (February 8) and Hartwick (February 14). Stevens closes out the regular season by hosting Ithaca and RIT on February 19 and 21, and the Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Championship starts on February 26 and 27 at a site and time to be determined.