A last-second fallaway shot fell short, denying New York University a chance to force overtime in its 86-84 loss to Lehman College in the championship game of the 2009 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Metro Tournament on Sunday at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in New York.

The Violets (17-11) trailed 82-74 with :41 remaining, but got within 86-84 when D.J. Glavan hit the first two of his three free throws with 3.0 seconds left.  Glavan purposely missed his final try, which Richie Polan collected.  The ball was jarred loose and ended up in Keith Jensen's hands, whose off-balance try from about eight feet away missed the mark.

"The guys did a great job in getting into the postseason and played really hard to get to the championship game," said head coach Joe Nesci, whose team won the 2007 ECAC Metro title and reached the 2008 tourney semifinals.  "Even when the game looked like it was over with a minute to go, they battled back and had a chance to force overtime."

Lehman (21-9) got 28 points and 11 rebounds from Tournament Most Outstanding Player Alen Redzic and owned sizable edges on points in the paint (52-32), points off turnovers (29-7) and second-chance points (17-6).

After both teams traded leads and forged ties throughout a good portion of the second half, NYU seized its final lead, 74-73, after Jensen, who scored a team-high 23 points, drained a three-pointer with 3:15 remaining.  From there, the Lightning scored nine straight points, including four from Xavier Gardner (16 points), to claim an 82-74 cushion.  Four of those tallies came off Violet turnovers.

In the first half, Lehman grabbed a 22-10 lead 8:59 into the action, but NYU scored eight straight points to cap a 14-4 surge that forged a 37-37 halftime tie.  Jensen scored 13 of his points during the opening period.

Also for NYU, John Mish finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals in his final collegiate contest.  Polan contributed 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, while Omar Meziab (11 tallies) and Glavan (10 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds) enabled the Violets to put all five starters in double digits.

Overall, NYU shot 53.2% (33-for-62), including 62.1% (18-for-29) in the second half, while hitting 12 of its 25 three-point attempts (48.0%).  The Violets also controlled the glass, finishing with a 38-31 rebounding advantage.

Alain Dela Cruz finished with 16 points, while Duane Rhoden added 14 tallies, five boards, four assists and three steals for Lehman.  The Lightning shot 50.0% (33-for-66) from the floor and 36.4% (4-for-11) from three-point range while going 16-for-23 at the charity stripe compared to just 6-for-9 (66.7%) for NYU.

With the final game completed, so are the collegiate careers of Mish and Bill Morrissey, as well as four-year manager Derek Okolie.

"I'm proud of John, Billy and Derek," Nesci said.  "They've been a great part of our team.  They've been great representatives for our team and our university."