Stevens Defeats Kean in OT,
77-71
Hoboken, N.J. (12/30/09) - Senior
Vinnie Darpino (Colonia, N.J.) sent the game into
overtime with a 35 foot buzzer-beater and recorded a KU career-high
23 points but it wasn't enough as Stevens Institute of Technology
defeated Kean, 77-71.
Stevens outscored the Cougars 8-2 in the extra period en route to
the victory. Senior guard George Greco led four Ducks in
double figures with 17 points.
After several empty possessions for both squads in overtime,
Darpino (pictured right) put the Cougars (3-7) up 71-69 after
converting a pair of free throws. Those two points would be Kean's
only two in extra time as the Ducks rang off the final eight points
of the game.
Stevens (7-1) jumped out to a 9-2 lead 3:49 into the action, but
Kean battled back, tying the game at 16-all and 19-all before
taking its first lead with 9:14 to play in the first.
The Cougars were able to push their lead to five after a pair of
Jonathan Jones
(Linden,
N.J.) free throws with 6:17 left
in the first, but the Ducks responded to tie the score at 29 thanks
to a three from freshman Russ Thompson and several made free
throws. The back-and-forth first half ended with Stevens holding a
slim, 36-35 advantage.
Kean jumped out to its largest lead of the contest with a 9-2
run early in the second and took a 44-38 lead with 16:09 remaining
in regulation. The Ducks responded with a 7-0 run of their own to
regain the lead with 14:23 to play. The two teams continued
to see-saw and go blow-for-blow, and every time Kean was able to
get its lead back to four, Stevens would come back and tie.
With 2:50 remaining the Cougars went up 66-62 after a driving layup
from Jones, but 10 ticks later, Greco responded with a long triple
from the left side to cut the lead to one.
Stevens then rolled off the next four points to take a 69-66
lead with three seconds left. Jones rebounded a missed Ducks free
throw, fired a quick outlet to Darpino at half court and the senior
hoisted a three from 35 feet to tie the game at 69 and send it into
overtime. In all, the game saw nine ties and 12 lead changes.
Jones (pictured left) finished with 11 points and a game-high 15
rebounds. The Cougars shot 41.9 percent from the floor (26-of-62)
and made 12-of-20 free-throw attempts.
The Ducks shot 50 percent from the field (25-of-50) and went
10-of-19 from long range. They were out-rebounded 44-33 and went
17-of-33 from the charity stripe.
Kean returns to action in 2010 when they travel to Baltimore,
Maryland to take on Baruch College at Johns Hopkins University.
