Box Score

John Mish hit four free throws in the final 1:12 as part of a game-ending 6-0 run as the New York University men's basketball team downed SUNY New Paltz, 73-68, in the championship game of the NYU Holiday Tournament on Tuesday night at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

D.J. Glavan earned Tournament MVP honors after scoring a game-high 17 points to go with six rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes.  Mish (15 points in 18 minutes) and Richie Polan (11 points, 3 assists, 3 blocks) joined Glavan on the All-Tournament Team for the Violets (8-0).

"It's another real good job by our team of gutting it out," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said.  "Overall, it was a good team win."

Harris Wichard led four players in double digits for the Hawks (4-6), tallying 14 points and earning a place on the All-Tournament squad.

SUNY New Paltz led 39-34 at halftime, but NYU emerged from intermission re-energized, as evidenced by a 21-3 surge to start the second half.  Omar Meziab scored 10 of his 11 points during the spurt as the Violets seized a 55-42 advantage with 13:29 remaining.

However, the game featured 11 ties and 11 lead changes and eventually became dramatic despite NYU holding a 62-52 lead with 8:30 remaining after a Glavan lay-up.  Shereef Taylor (13 points, 7 rebounds) hit a pair of buckets to power a 12-0 surge, putting New Paltz ahead 64-62 with 4:08 remaining.

The Hawks took their final lead, 68-67, after a jumper in the paint by Jayquan Anderson (13 points, 12 rebounds) with 1:42 to go.  From there, Mish used a strong power move to draw contact, eventually hitting both of his tries at the charity stripe to make it 69-68 with 1:12 remaining.

After a steal on the ensuring possession by NYU's Keith Jensen (7 points, 6 rebounds), Polan hit a twisting lay-up off a feed from Derek Becker with :20 remaining to make it 71-68. 

Mish then hit two free throws with four seconds remaining to ice the game for NYU, which shot 48.1% (26-for-54) and owned a 36-32 edge on the glass.

"Our guys stayed poised," Nesci said.

Matt Hauser added 11 points for New Paltz, which shot 43.6% (24-for-55) from the field but just 30.3% (10-for-33) in the second half.

NYU returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 6, when it hosts SUNY Oneonta at 7 p.m.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

D.J. Glavan, NYU (MVP)
John Mish, NYU
Richie Polan, NYU
Harris Wichard, SUNY New Paltz
Anthony Coppola, Wheaton
Nick Bean, Rivier