Jensen's Career-High 30 Shoots Down Rutgers-Newark in ECAC Semis

Keith Jensen scored seven points in the final 1:42.

Keith Jensen tallied a career-high 30 points, including seven points in the final 1:42, as second-seeded New York University outlasted #3 Rutgers-Newark, 76-74, in the semifinals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metropolitan Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in New York.

NYU (17-10) advanced to its second ECAC Metro Tournament final in three seasons, defeating the Scarlet Raiders (17-13) in the semifinals just as they did in winning the 2007 championship. The Violets will face either #1 Montclair State University or #4 Lehman College in the ECAC Metro Tournament title game at home Sunday at 2 p.m.

Jensen scored 18 of his points in the first half, then hit two free throws that gave the Violets a 69-68 lead with 1:42 remaining. After burying his career-best sixth three-pointer with 42.5 ticks left, he went 2-for-2 at the charity stripe with 17.3 seconds remaining to put NYU ahead 74-69.

Overall, Jensen finished 8-for-14 from the floor, 6-for-12 from three-point range and 8-for-9 at the charity stripe while also adding five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"Keith made shots we knew he could make today and made some big-time shots," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "I just thought he played a good overall floor game."

After Rutgers-Newark seized a 24-19 lead, Jensen scored 10 of his 18 first-half tallies during the final 4:40 of the opening period, powering a 23-9 run that enabled the Violets to take a 42-33 lead.

However, the Scarlet Raiders responded in the second half, as James Johnson scored 13 of his team-high 19 points after intermission. This included three-balls on consecutive possesions to give his team a 61-57 lead with 7:42 remaining.

Rutgers-Newark shot 53.1% (17-for-32) in the second half and 48.4% (30-for-62) overall while also putting Phil Barnes (16 points, 7 rebounds, 7-for-11 FG), David Cherry (14 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 4 steals) and Greg Moore (12 tallies in 23 minutes off the bench) in double figures.

However, NYU relied on several solid contributions from the likes of Richie Polan (9 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists), John Mish (8 points, 8 boards), Andy Stein (8 points, 4 caroms), Chip Borsi (career-high 7 points) and Omar Meziab (7 points, 5 assists).

While shooting 50.9% (27-for-53) from the field and 40.9% from three-point range (9-for-22), the Violets also owned a 37-29 rebounding advantage to set up their second ECAC championship-game berth in three years.

"It's great," Nesci said. "Making the postseason, you never look past that. I'm proud of the guys that we qualified for the postseason. It's a great way to end the careers of our seniors and a great way to end our season."