Violets Give #3 Washington Fits Before Falling, 60-57, in St. Louis

Potential-Tying Three-Point Attempt in Final Seconds Misses for NYU

Andy Stein scored five of his 15 points in the first two minutes.

Powered by its grittiest effort of the season against #3-ranked Washington University, the New York University men's basketball team gave their University Athletic Association (UAA) rival and two-time defending NCAA Division III National Champions fits before bowing by a 60-57 score Sunday afternoon at the WU Field House in St. Louis.

Although the Violets (10-4, 1-2 UAA) held several leads across the contest, they found themselves trailing 60-57 after Keith Jensen (13 points) canned a pair of free throws with 18.3 seconds remaining. A turnover by the Bears breathed life into NYU's hopes of forcing bonus basketball, but Carl Yaffe's three-point try from the corner just missed, denying the Violets a chance to defeat their second top-10 opponent this season.

In a game featuring 11 ties and 13 lead changes, NYU seized its last lead, 46-45, when Yaffe swished a trey off a nifty feed from Derek Becker (career-high 7 assists) with 7:55 remaining.

Despite their shooting struggles otherwise, Washington strung together what was a decisive 8-0 burst featuring two inside buckets by Cameron Smith (8 points, 8 rebounds) to claim their largest lead, 53-46, with 5:37 remaining. NYU's did an otherwise commendable job defensively, holding the Bears to 36.5% shooting overall (19-for-52) and just four makes on 22 tries (18.2%) from three-point range.

However, Washington owned a 43-28 edge on the glass, including 16 offensive boards which helped it get to the foul line 26 times (18 makes, 69.2%), compared to NYU's 5-for-7 showing from the charity stripe. The Bears also earned a 17-7 edge on second-chance points.

Also for Washington, All-American Sean Wallis scored 13 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to help the Bears overcome a 1-for-12 shooting showing by fellow All-American Aaron Thompson.

NYU seized its largest lead at the outset as Andy Stein, who scored a team-best 15 points and led the Violets in scoring for the third straight contest, sandwiched an easy lay-up and a three-pointer around a Jensen trey to give the visitors an 8-2 lead just 1:41 after the opening tip.

From there, both sides alternated small runs, trading the lead nine times and forging five ties before going into the halftime deadlocked at 28-all. However, Washington offset its 31.0% first-half shooting (9-for-29) and going just 1-for-13 from three-point range by grabbing 11 offensive rebounds and owning an 11-2 lead on points in the paint.

NYU shot 41.2% overall (21-for-51) and hit 10 of its 26 three-point attempts (38.5%), getting assists on 19 of its buckets. Richie Polan grabbed half of the Violets' rebounds, finishing with a season-high 14 rebounds.

NYU will return to action Friday, Jan. 22, when it begins a four-game homestand with an 8 p.m. tip-off against UAA rival Emory University.