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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Visiting Stevens outscored Nazareth 22-6 in the final 5:17 of regulation to rally past the Golden Flyers 76-70 in a hard-fought men's Empire 8 Conference basketball game on Saturday. Junior Brad Ford scored a team-high 25 points while freshman Mitch Ford tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds. The Golden Flyers played the majority of Saturday's game without senior Tyshun Stephens, who left four minutes into the contest with an injury.

Following the loss, Nazareth drops to 1-1 in conference games and 8-4 overall. Stevens remains unbeaten in Empire 8 games with a 2-0 record and improve to 8-1 overall.

The Golden Flyers held a 64-54 lead with 5:47 to play before the Ducks' furious rally. Russ Thompson, who amassed a game-high 32 points, connected on a three-pointer to ignite the run. He hit two additional shots from beyond the arc to trim Nazareth's lead. As the Ducks' offense heated, the Golden Flyers cooled. Nazareth made one of its final seven shots following its 10-point lead.

Stevens took the lead for good with about a minute remaining to play after collecting a long rebound, which Thompson converted into a three-point play following the fast break. Thompson's basket put the Ducks ahead 70-69. Stevens converted six free throws in the final minute to hold off the Golden Flyers.

Nazareth led by 13 points, 40-27, before Stevens cut its deficit to one point, 53-52, with 8:34 to play. The Golden Flyers answered with an 11-2 scoring that included two free throws apiece by Brad and Mitch Ford and three-point baskets by junior Jack Giles and Brad Ford, which provided the Golden Flyers the 64-54 advantage.

In the first half, Nazareth stretched its lead to 10 points, 31-21, with 2:34 to play in the period following a basket by senior Dan Waldbillig. Nazareth had 11 first-half points from its bench after Stephens suffered his injury. Brad Ford tallied 13 points to lead the Golden Flyers' attack in Stephens' absence. With Nazareth leading 25-18, Ford left the contest with six minutes left in the half after picking up his second foul. Waldbillig had eight points off the Nazareth bench to maintain the Golden Flyers' lead.

Stevens was also short-handed in the opening period as Sheldon Jones picked up three fouls in the first 20 minutes. After collecting his third foul with about eight minutes to play in the half, Jones missed the remainder of the period. Jones entered the game as the Ducks' leading scorer with 18.4 points per game, and the Golden Flyers held him scoreless through the first half. Nazareth's defense put Jones and Stevens into foul trouble by drawing multiple offensive charges. Nazareth's defense frustrated Jones throughout the afternoon and held him to only six points.

In addition to the points from the Ford brothers, freshman Maurice Mills scored nine points, followed by eight apiece by Waldbillig and Giles. Sophomore Vinny Amuso added six points. Stephens had one basket in his limited action. Mitch Ford and Mills each collected 12 rebounds as the teams both grabbed 41 boards.

Patrick Sabatino and Kenny Gan scored 16 points and 10 points, respectively for Stevens. Gan had a team-high 10 rebounds. The Ducks' active defense blocked eight shots to thwart Nazareth scoring opportunities.

The Golden Flyers are in action again on January 11th when Nazareth travels to Elmira for an Empire 8 contest. The Golden Flyers host Utica in another conference game on the 12th.