Box Score
Richie Polan sank three free throws with 2.7 seconds left in regulation to lift the New York University men's basketball team to a 56-53 victory at the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY, on Wednesday, December 1.
Polan also had to make three consecutive free throws minutes earlier just to get to that point. With the Violets (4-0) trailing 53-50 and 3:52 to play, the senior was fouled on a three-point attempt and stepped to the line with a chance to tie. He hit all three free throws to help NYU pull even.
Neither team could muster a go-ahead basket from there, and with the score tied at 53-all, NYU had one last chance to take the lead. Polan went up for a trey with three ticks left on the clock and again was fouled, sending him to the line with a chance to put the Violets ahead. The senior again sank all three free throws, and after a Merchant Marine (2-3) timeout, the Mariners inbounded but were unable to get a potential tying shot off before the final buzzer.
“Obviously, we have tremendous confidence in Richie,” said head coach Joe Nesci. “He's playing with a lot of confidence right now, and that makes all the difference.”
Polan's and the rest of NYU's prowess at the free-throw line may have made the difference in a low-scoring game filled with lots of fouls and few baskets. In a contest in which field goals were hard to come by (just 17 for NYU and 16 for Merchant Marine) and both defenses were forcing a myriad of turnovers (33 in all), the Violets shot a fantastic 15-for-17 (.882) from the free-throw line – with none bigger than Polan's six makes late.
“We were in a situation where they were taking us out of our offense,” commented Nesci. “Our guys responded by keeping cool, and we got good play off the bench from Ben Dorman and Devin Karch.
“And I thought defensively we did a really good job,” he added.
That defensive effort was on display throughout, including on the charges taken by Karch, D.J. Glavan and Carl Yaffe in the first half. The Violets held the Mariners to just 28.0% shooting and 24 points in the period to take a two-point lead into the break, and then continued to play strong defense in a back-and-forth second half.
On offense, Andy Stein took over in the second period despite being limited by foul trouble. Stein scored all of his team-high 15 points in the half, shooting 6-for-7 from the floor and draining a big three to give NYU a three-point lead with 7:27 remaining.
“Andy fought through foul trouble and kept his head up,” noted Nesci. “He was a big force under the basket, and we needed it big time.”
Polan also had another big-time performance, finishing with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to record his fourth double-double in as many games this season. Glavan added 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half, and Karch pulled down six boards.
Richard Roach paced the Mariners, a squad that that reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2009-10, with 17 points and seven boards, while Tom Izzo netted 15 points.
NYU returns to the hardwood on Saturday when it hosts NYU-Poly at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center at 2:00 pm. The contest will be preceded by the Alumni Game at noon.
