Men's Basketball Routs York to Claim First-Ever ECAC Metro Title; Farid Breaks Career Record for Rebounds
HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 9, 2008) – On the same day that the Stevens Institute of Technology women’s basketball team upset top-seeded Montclair State University in the finals of the 2008 Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Division III Metro Championship, the Stevens men gave the Ducks a clean sweep of the tournament titles with an 82-54 victory over second-seeded York College on Sunday at the Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Junior guard Virgil Gray earned Most Outstanding Player honors with an 18-point, five-rebound performance that capped off a 23-6 season for the top-seeded Ducks.
“It really is an honor and a testament to the players on this team to win the first ECAC championship in program history,” Head Coach Josh Loeffler said. “It was also really fulfilling to send our seniors home on a high note and to build for next year with so many of our underclassmen playing well.”
The 23 wins ties the record for the most victories in a season in team history. Last year, Stevens went 23-7 en route to reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. This season, the Ducks posted a perfect 17-0 record at home.
Gray shot 4-for-7 from the floor and 10-for-11 at the foul line against the Cardinals (22-9), who reached the finals of the City University of New York Athletic Conference this year. Meanwhile, senior guard Waleed Farid capped off his amazing career at Stevens by recording 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and two blocked shots. In the process, he became the Ducks’ all-time leader in career rebounds. Farid closed out his career with 711 rebounds. The previous mark, which was set by Dan Bonifacic, had stood for over 20 years. Bonifacic accumulated 708 rebounds from 1982-86. Earlier this season, Farid broke the school scoring and steal record during a game against Hunter College on February 13. He is fifth all-time with 345 career assists.
Stevens also received a star performance from junior guard Anthony Passalacqua, who drained six three-pointers and finished with a team-best 20 points against the Cardinals. Senior forward Tim Williams added 14 points and eight rebounds in his final game as a Duck. Williams shot 7-for-9 from the floor. Meanwhile, senior forward Joseph Ayodele closed out his career with six points and six rebounds in a winning effort. Ayodele also made the final shot he attempted before exiting late in the contest.
York (22-9) was led by senior guard Michael Salamanca (Hollis, N.Y.), who totaled 15 points and three assists. Freshman forward Omari Phipps (Laurelton, N.Y.) added 12 points. Junior forward Aaron Wilson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) posted 11 points and seven rebounds as the Cardinals suffered their most lopsided loss of the season.
Trailing 15-10 with just over 11 minutes to go in the first half, Stevens ripped off six straight points as sophomore guard George Greco drilled back-to-back three-pointers. Over the final seven minutes of the period, the Ducks put together a 22-8 run to turn a 24-23 deficit into a 45-32 halftime advantage. Passalacqua made a pair of shots from downtown to spearhead the rally. Stevens out-scored York 9-1 over the final 93 seconds of the half. After Gray converted a three-point play, Ayodele made two straight hoops. Then, Williams beat the halftime buzzer with an offensive rebound and fall-away put-back off glass as the horn sounded.
The Ducks continued to run away with things in the second half as they out-scored the Cardinals 37-22 after the break. Leading by 13 points (47-34) with just over 17 minutes to go, Stevens put together a 14-3 run in the span of 4:02 to blow the game wide open. Passalacqua was in the middle of the offensive burst once again as he buried a long-range three-pointer. Williams followed with a lay-up. Passalacqua added another three. After back-to-back lay-ups by Farid, Gray hit two free throws to stake the Ducks to a 61-37 lead with 13:26 remaining.
After that point, the outcome was never in doubt as the Cardinals were unable to cut the deficit below 20 points. The biggest lead for Stevens came with 2:08 left when sophomore guard/forward Matt Higgins made two free throws to extend the margin to 30 points (82-52).
For the game, the Ducks shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) from the floor and 81.8 percent (18-for-22) at the foul line. York, which committed 22 turnovers, made just 36.5 percent (19-for-52) of its field-goal attempts. The Cardinals were also 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) at the charity stripe.
During the ECAC Tournament, Stevens defeated three CUNYAC teams by a combined total of 63 points. On Wednesday, the Ducks took down the College of Staten Island by the score of 73-47. Yesterday, Stevens topped Brooklyn College, 83-74. The 63-point differential over the three tournament games equates to an average winning margin of 21 points per game for the Ducks.
