Box Score
The New York University men's basketball team overcame a 10-point halftime deficit with a tremendous second-half performance, defeating SUNY Cortland 70-61 to claim its 12th NYU Tip-Off Tournament Championship on Sunday, November 21, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center.
After being held without a field goal for the last 8:53 of the first period – allowing the Dragons (2-1) to go on a 16-0 run to turn a six-point deficit into a 27-17 lead – the Violets (2-0) were nearly unstoppable in the second half, shooting a scorching 16-for-24 from the field (66.7 percent) and 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) from three-point range. In all, NYU netted 53 second-half points after putting up 17 in the first.
“It was great for our team to be able to come back like that,” said head coach Joe Nesci. “We showed a lot of poise in the second half, and that will give us confidence going forward.”
Max Wein ended NYU's field-goal drought 1:18 into the second half, draining a three-pointer from the top of the arc. The Violets then inched closer and closer to regaining the lead, led by three triples from Kyle Stockmal, before finally doing so with 10:25 to play, going up 45-44 on a fantastic up-and-under by Richie Polan.
Cortland got as close as two with 2:37 left, but Polan once again came through with a big shot, nailing a three on a feed from Andy Stein to put NYU up 61-56. Polan, Stockmal and D.J. Glavan then took care of business at the free-throw line to seal a Violet victory and a tournament championship – which had added significance after NYU lost in the opening round of its annual Tip-Off Tournament for only the second time ever last season.
“I'm thrilled for our seniors and for our whole team,” commented Nesci on the tournament title. “Being able to win a Championship on the first weekend of the season is something you hope for. And it was great the way we did it.”
Polan finished with 17 points and a career-high-tying 15 rebounds en route to being named Tournament MVP. Stockmal (12 points, four rebounds) and Carl Yaffe (15 points, five rebounds) were both named to the All-Tournament Team, as were Jeremy Smith (19 points) and Jesse Winter (11 points, five assists) of Cortland. Moravian's Chris Cullen also received All-Tournament honors.
The Violets return to the hardwood for their first road game of the season on Sunday, Nov. 28, at SUNY Old Westbury. Game time is set for 2:00 pm.
