MADISON, N.J. – The FDU-Florham men's basketball team lost a shootout to Stevens Institute of Technology by the score of 103-99 at the Ferguson Recreation Center on Tuesday night.

The two teams combined for 130 second-half points in the wild run-and-gun matchup. The Ducks (4-1) caught fire from behind the arc and buried 8-of-11 treys in the second stanza, which proved to be the difference.

Junior forward Donte Ali led the Devils (1-3) with 26 points and 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. His 26-point effort matched his career high.

After missing all seven of his shot attempts in the first half, Stevens junior guard Patrick Barron found the stroke in the latter half, and buried all five of his three-point attempts, while knocking down 7-of-8 shots overall.  Barron and teammate Evan Klimchak each poured in 23 points to lead the Ducks.

In the first half, the Ducks managed to post a 45.9 shooting clip, despite converting just 3-of-15 from long range. The Devils shot 38.5 percent from the floor in the first half but trailed by only a basket at 37-35.

Following the pedestrian offensive first half, the two teams ignited the scoreboard over the final 20 minutes of action.

The Ducks stormed out of the locker room with a 15-4 run, which ballooned their lead to 18 points, 59-41. A trey by Kevin Zychowski built the Ducks' cushion to 23 points at 78-55, however, the Devils refused to go quietly in their home opener.

The Devils whittled the lead down to 10 after an old fashioned three-point play by Veon Lassiter with 4:21 to play. 

After the Ducks stretched the lead back to 13, the Devils again responded with a pair of layups by Ali and Jayson Hughes and a 3-pointer by Derek Leohner. But with the clock working against them, the Devils were unable to get any closer than four points in the final minutes as the Ducks took care of business at the free throw line to seal the win.

Hughes continued the stellar start to his first season in Madison by notching 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting, while fellow freshman Leohner finished with 15 points and five rebounds in the loss.

The Devils continue their three-game home stretch this Sunday, November 24 when they host Baruch College at 6 p.m.