Box Score
The New York University men's basketball team lost in heartbreaking fashion to #14 Brandeis University in its University Athletic Association (UAA) opener, as Derek Retos drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer for the Judges to defeat the Violets 61-59 in Waltham, MA, on Saturday, January 8.
NYU (10-1, 0-1) appeared to have the battle of unbeatens locked up midway through the second half, as Andy Stein's transition layup at the 10:50 mark gave the Violets a commanding 56-38 lead. But Brandeis (10-0, 1-0) crawled back as NYU's offense went cold – the Violets did not make a field goal over the final 10 minutes to allow the Judges back into the game.
Brandeis cut the lead to 10 over the next five minutes as NYU failed to score. Richie Polan sank a pair of free throws with 6:07 to play to snap the scoreless stretch at 4:43, putting the Violets' lead back up to 12.
But after that Ruben Kanya took over for Brandeis, draining a jumper and a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions. Stein hit 1-of-2 free throws with 3:08 left to put the lead back at eight, but the Violets would not score again the rest of the way.
Retos, Division III's leading three-point shooter so far this season with a percentage of .595 from beyond the arc, hit a trey to make it 59-54, and Kanya followed with two free throws. Alex Stoyle hit a layup in transition to trim NYU's lead to one, but the Violets caught a break when Kanya grabbed a defensive rebound following a missed three and traveled – handing NYU the ball back with 38.6 seconds left and a chance to put its lead up to three at the free-throw line.
But the Violets couldn't take advantage, as Derek Becker missed the front end of a one-and-one with 15.4 ticks on the clock and Stoyle grabbed the rebound. After several timeouts, Brandeis inbounded with 2.1 seconds left and one chance to win. Retos caught the pass in the right corner, spun and drained a fadeaway three with two defenders' hands in his face to win it for the Judges, who outscored NYU 23-3 in the final 10 minutes to hand the team its first loss of the season in stunning fashion.
The loss at the buzzer was all the more difficult considering the Violets controlled the first 30 minutes of play. NYU opened the game on a 14-2 run and led by as many as 15 in the first half. The Violets took a 10-point lead into halftime after a 5-0 Judges run to close the period, but then came out strong, eventually using a 7-0 spurt to take the 56-38 lead.
But after shooting 54.5% in the opening 30 minutes, NYU went 0-for-10 from the floor the rest of the way, while Brandeis shot 8-for-12, including 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Polan led the Violets with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists, leaving him just seven points shy of 1,000 for his career. Stein added 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Max Wein totaled nine points and three steals.
Retos led the Judges with 14 points, going 4-for-6 from three. Kanya had 11 points, nine of which came in the last 10 minutes, while Ben Bartoldus and Tyrone Hughes each doled out four assists.
The Violets return to action on Tuesday with their final non-conference regular season game, when they host Hunter College at 7:00 pm at Coles Sports Center. Prior to the contest, NYU's and Hunter's recipients of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award will be honored.
