Men's Basketball Survives Baruch, 64-60

D.J. Glavan's clutch free throws kept the Violets unbeaten.

Sophomore D.J. Glavan poured in 17 points, including two free throws with 21.8 seconds remaining, as the New York University men's basketball team staved off Baruch College, 64-60, in the first round of the NYU Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

"I thought we gutted it out," relieved NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "D.J. made some big foul shots."

Fellow sophomore Richie Polan produced 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting, dished out a career-best seven assists, six rebounds, and two blocked shots in 37 minutes as the Violets (3-0) advanced to Sunday's championship game against Connecticut College, which got 18 points from Shavar Bernier in defeating Immaculata University, 67-56.

To get there, though, NYU shot 63.2% (12-for-19) in the final stanza and needed to weather a late Baruch (1-1) surge and survive in the final seconds.

A jumper by Glavan staked the Violets to a seemingly safe 61-53 lead with 2:31 remaining. But, the Bearcats reeled off seven of the next eight points, the last three coming from hand of Tammer Farid (10 points), to pull the visitors within 62-60 with 45.8 seconds remaining.

Baruch could have pulled closer after an NYU turnover, but Lionel Hilaire missed a lay-up. Polan captured the rebound and, after draining time off the clock playing keepaway, Glavan stepped to the charity stripe and calmly canned both of his attempts as the Violets stayed unbeaten despite dealing with their second last-minute scare in the last three games.

"In the long run it's a good thing. In the short term, it's not good for the coach" Nesci said. "In all seriousness, it's a good thing for the team."

Senior John Mish added 11 points and eight rebounds for NYU, which led 32-26 at the break. The Violets shot 52.0% (26-for-50) from the field and 50.0% (7-for-14) from the foul line while owning a 35-29 rebounding edge.

Steven Dietz had 19 points for Baruch, while George Kunkel added 14 tallies, 10 boards and four steals. The Bearcats shot 35.3% (18-for-51) from the field, including 26.7% (8-for-30) in the second half, but hit 76.0% (19-for-25) of their free throws.