Madison, NJ (February 17) – Despite being neck and neck for a portion of the second half, the FDU-Florham (4-21, 1-13 MAC Freedom) men's basketball team dropped a 82-64 decision to Stevens Institute of Technology (20-5, 11-3 MAC Freedom), in its 2023-24 season finale on Saturday afternoon.
 
FDU-Florham was led by Christopher Smith (Florham Park, NJ) who totaled 17 points, followed by Brian Nichols (Roxbury, NJ) tallying 16 points. Carson Woods (Phoenix, AZ) led the team defensively accumulating seven rebounds. Stevens had four players reach double digit points but they were guided by Xander Singh, who registered 20 points.
 
The first half of the contest was led by Stevens as they outscored the Devils 39-25. The Ducks were able to take the early advantage scoring three back-to-back three-pointers allowing them to quickly take a 9-0 lead. The run was stopped by Nichols at the 18:22 mark after he sank a jumper to make the score 9-2. The Ducks answered back by going on another unanswered run that made the score 15-2. FDU started their first run of the night at the 14:07 mark going on a 7-4 run making the score 19-9. That run consisted of baskets from Jaqwan Washington (Bryan, TX) and Andrew Piombino Jr. (Rockaway, NJ). A few minutes later, at the 9:10 mark Michael Dabas (Middletown, NJ) and Nichols scored back-to-back shots to make the score 23-14. Shortly after, with 6:40 remaining, Smith was able to capitalize on an and one opportunity cutting the Ducks lead 25-16. That trail was short lived as the Ducks went on to score seven unanswered points in under a minute to extend their lead 32-17. But the Devils did not let that stop them as Nichols was able to make two layups in a row to end the half. Despite that, FDU still saw themselves going into halftime down 39-25.

FDU-Florham started the second half with a jumper from Nichols and a three-pointer from Joseph Carney (Garwood, NJ). After exchanging baskets for the next few minutes, the Devils then went on a 7-0 run to get to make the score 48-42. This run is credited to Washington, Smith, and Ethan Klueh (Orlando, FL) FDU trailed by 11 at 53-42 with 11:39 to play in the game and proceeded to go on a 5-0 run that featured three points from Smith and two from Carney for another close trail of 53-47. Following that the Devils saw more points from Smith, Woods, Nichols, and Micah Moore (West Orange, NJ). Down the stretch, the Devils saw themselves at a 61-48 deficit that would ultimately be the deciding factor as Fairleigh Dickinson could not get any closer to the six-point deficit they had early in the second half. Stevens went on to beat the Devils for the 82-64 for another MAC Freedom victory. 

FDU-Florham shot 35.8-percent (24-for-67) from the floor, 50.0-percent (4-for-17) from three-point range and 70.6-percent (12-for-17) from the free throw line. The Devils scored 36 points in the paint and 16 points off the bench.
 
Stevens shot 38.2-percent (21-for-55) from the floor, 31.6-percent (6-for-19) from three-point range and 77.3-percent (34-for-44) from the free throw line. The Ducks scored 26 points in the paint and 20 points off the bench.

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