Box Score
The New York University men's basketball team recorded its highest point total in more than 14 years en route to a 107-93 victory at St. Joseph's College-Long Island in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Metro Tournament on Wednesday, March 2, in Patchogue, NY.
Facing the sixth-highest scoring team in all of Division III at 87 points per game, the Violets (16-10) used their own explosive offensive attack to take down the top-seeded Golden Eagles (22-7). NYU's 107 points were its most since a 113-71 victory over Polytechnic Institute (now NYU-Poly) way back on January 29, 1997.
Andy Stein was the biggest reason for the offensive outburst, as he poured in a career-high 37 points (25 in the second half) on 15-for-21 shooting. His 37 points were the most by a Violet in more than 20 years; Rob Remhild was the last to score at least that many, when he netted 39 on January 26, 1990, in a double-overtime game against Emory University.
“The guys did a great job of finding Andy,” said head coach
Joe Nesci. “Shooting 15-for-21 is obviously pretty good. And he wasn't the only one – we had five guys in double figures.”
Becker got the wild offensive affair started just seconds in, as he took the opening tip and immediately fed a cutting
Kyle Stockmal for an easy layup. Behind a similarly fast-paced attack, the Violets quickly built a 14-point lead, 23-9, just 7:44 into the contest.
NYU's offense continued to stay scorching in the first half, as it shot a whopping 75.9% (22-for-29) in the period – easily a season best. But St. Joseph's hung tough thanks to its prowess behind the three-point line – the Golden Eagles average the second-most three-pointers made per game in Division III, and they sank nine in the first half to trail only by 11, 54-43, heading into the break.
The Violets stormed out of the gate in the second half, however, using a 13-2 run early in the period to increase their advantage to 72-52. The lead was as high as 17 with 7:36 to play, but St. Joseph's hung tough and eventually got as close as six, 92-86, behind its three-point shooting.
But with NYU's lead down to six and just over three minutes remaining, Stein came through with one of his 15 buckets to stem the tide, and Glavan hit six free throws down the stretch to seal the playoff win.
“Against a team that shoots from three the way they do, we really had to work for this win,” commented Nesci. “We're really excited we get to continue to play this season.”
Stein added seven rebounds to his 37 points, while Polan pulled down 10 to give him his 11th double-double of the season. Yaffe also had a double-double with 10 boards to go along with a career-high five blocks, and Becker had a team-high five assists.
Steve Velazquez, Chris Jimenez and Vincent Russo combined for all 16 of the Golden Eagles' three-pointers. Velazquez led St. Joseph's with 22 points, while Jimenez netted 21 and Russo 19.
The Violets will take on fourth-seeded Rutgers-Newark in the second round of the ECAC Metro Tournament on Saturday on the Scarlet Raiders' home floor. Tip-off is at 7:00 pm. In the other semifinal contest, Stevens Institute of Technology will host Mount Saint Mary College, also at 7:00 pm.
