Violets Outlast Elmira for Third Place

Keith Jensen averaged 14.5 points in the Tip-Off Tournament.

Kyle Stockmal instigated a game-breaking 12-1 run that snapped New York University out of an extended scoreless funk in the second half and helped the Violets survive Elmira College, 54-49, in the NYU Tip-Off Tournament third-place game Sunday at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

Behind 15 points from Tournament MVP Jeff Altimar, Skidmore College defeated Ferrum College, 74-63, for the Tip-Off Tournament title. Skidmore defeated NYU in the first round by an 80-75 tally, handing the home team its second first-round loss in the 19-year history fo the Tip-Off Tournament.

Making his first collegiate start, Stockmal converted a backdoor lay-up and an old-fashioned three-point play as the Violets (2-1), who led by as many as 19 in the first half, pulled away despite being held scoreless for the first 8:44 of the second half by the Soaring Eagles (1-3). A three-pointer by Carl Yaffe capped the decisive spurt and gave NYU an insurmountable 48-34 advantage with 6:01 remaining.

Keith Jensen led NYU with 12 points, all in the first half, and earned All-Tournament Team honors. Yaffe added nine tallies on three points for the Violets, who scored 24 points off 15 Soaring Eagle turnovers.

Jon Adamson paced all players with 14 tallies and eight rebounds for Elmira. David Nelson earned All-Tournament Team honors with 11 points for the Soaring Eagles, while Bobby DiPiazza added 11 talies and seven boards.

Trailing 36-24 at intermission, the Soaring Eagles scored the first nine second-half points to pull within 36-33 with 12:27 remaining. Meanwhile, the Violets missed their first 11 shots coming out of the break ans shot 23.1% (6-for-26) after halftime and shot a season-low 36.0% (18-for-50), including a 25.9% conversion rate from beyond the three-point arc (7-for-27).

"Our guys worked really hard defensively today," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "But, when you shoot like we did in the second half, you have to play good defense. Fortunately we did."

For NYU, it was a contrast to an efficient and opportunistic first half that saw it notch 10 assists while shooting 50.0% (12-for-24) from the floor. Jensen led all scorers with 12 first-half points as the Violets converted 10 early Soaring Eagle miscues into 16 points and led by as many as 19 (34-15, 5:07 before break) during the opening period.

Elmira shot 31.1% (14-for-45) overall and 30.4% (7-for-23) from three-point range, but did 87.5% (14-for-16) of their free throws.

NYU is off until Sunday, Nov. 29, when it hosts SUNY Old Westbury at the Coles Sports Center. Tip-off time is 2 p.m.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP: Jeff Altimar (Skidmore)

Sathile Sithole (Skidmore)
Derek Mitchell (Ferrum)
David Ward (Ferrum)
Keith Jensen (NYU)
David Nelson (Elmira)