Box Score

Behind a career-high 28 points from Carl Yaffe, the New York University men's basketball team stayed undefeated in 2010-11 with a 92-79 victory at SUNY Maritime in Throggs Neck, NY, on Thursday night, December 30.

 

Yaffe led the Violets (8-0) to victory over the Privateers (5-4) with a pair of big second-half sequences. First, after a dunk by Quamel Lyerly pulled Maritime to within two, 71-69, with 8:04 to play, Yaffe came right back and put in a layup on a feed from Andy Stein. The Privateers then missed a jumper on the other end, and Yaffe came down with the rebound, raced down the floor and hit another layup. On the ensuing possession, the sophomore blocked a shot out of bounds, and a charge on Lyerly gave the Violets a much-needed stop.

 

Those big plays sparked a 9-0 NYU run, giving it an 80-69 lead. Maritime finally stopped the bleeding and got as close as eight before Yaffe put the game away. The sophomore drained three-pointers on back-to-back possessions from the same spot in the corner to give the Violets an insurmountable 14-point lead with 2:34 remaining.

 

Yaffe's career night (28 points on 11-of-14 shooting) was part of another performance in which NYU moved the ball extremely well. The Violets, who entered the game second in all of Division III in assists per game, dished out 28 for the contest – just five shy of the school record they established their last time out. Yaffe again led the way, with eight, while Andy Stein and Kyle Stockmal had career bests of six and five, respectively.

 

“We did a good job of finding seams in their zone,” said head coach Joe Nesci. “Our guys are certainly looking for each other and doing a good job finding the open man.”

 

That was certainly the case early, as NYU built a big 22-6 lead in the opening 7:24. After a quick Maritime spurt, a tremendous left-handed dunk from Stein put the Violets' lead back at 16.

 

But the Privateers again fought back, going on a 14-3 run to pull to within four, 40-36, late in the first. Richie Polan ended the run with a big dunk of his own, throwing down a two-handed slam in transition, but Maritime entered halftime trailing only by two, 45-43, thanks to a jumper from Paul Saurino in the final minute.

 

The teams were tied six times in the first 10 minutes of the second half, before Polan put NYU ahead for good with a layup on a feed from from Yaffe with 10:05 to play. Yaffe's late heroics then helped the Violets pull away.

 

“It was a good first win coming back from the break,” said Nesci, referring to the NYU's three-week holiday break. “Sensing the urgency in close games is important, and our guys did a good job with it today. We're just going to keep working at getting better.”

 

In addition to Yaffe, Polan and Stein were the Violets' other two big scorers. Polan posted his seventh double-double in eight games this season with 24 points and 12 boards. Stein netted 18 points while going 6-for-8 from both the field and the free-throw line and added eight rebounds and six assists.

 

Maritime's Giovanni Hurley led all scorers with 35 points and finished with a triple-double, as he added 12 rebounds and 10 steals. He also surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in the process. Lyerly added 18 points for the Privateers, while Saurino finished with 10 and five assists.

 

NYU returns to action on Sunday for the opening game of its annual Holiday Classic. The Violets will face Drew University at 2:00 pm at Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.