Men's Basketball Stopped at Case Western

Violets See Four-Game Victory Run Halted With 69-51 Defeat

Keith Jensen scored 10 of his 14 tallies after halftime.

An early auspicious start by the New York University men's basketball team dissolved into a 69-51 loss to Case Western Reserve University in a battle of University Athletic Association (UAA) rivals Sunday afternoon at Horsburgh Gymnasium in Cleveland.

Keith Jensen scored a team-high 14 points for the Violets (14-6, 5-4 UAA), who saw their four-game winning streak end despite seizing a 10-2 lead 4:15 into the game thanks to three-pointers by Derek Becker (7 tallies, 3 steals) and Carl Yaffe (9 points, 5 boards).

However, the Spartans (11-9, 3-6 UAA) replied with a 15-2 burst, then added a 12-5 run prior to intermission to take a 36-25 lead after 20 minutes.

Case Western continued to exploit its prowess in the paint, scoring the first 14 points of the second half to secure an insurmountable 50-25 cushion with 12:57 remaining.

Overall, the Spartans owned a 46-24 rebounding edge and outscored NYU 40-20 in the paint behind the tandem of Evan Tsudis (15 points, 6 boards) and Tom Summers (12 tallies, 12 rebounds). Reid Anderson scored a game-high 17 points and added nine rebounds for Case Western, which shot 42.4% (25-for-59) from the field.

Jensen hit a three-ball at 12:32 to halt the Violets' drought, but they could get no closer than 14 points the rest of the way. NYU shot 35.3% overall (18-for-51), including 7-for-24 (29.2%) from three-point distance.

From here, NYU will return home for its final two regular-season home games, beginning with a Tear It Up! event against the University of Chicago on Friday, Feb. 12, at 8 p.m. The Violets will then host two-time UAA and NCAA Division III National Champion Washington University on Sunday, Feb. 14, at noon.