Box Score

The 17th-ranked New York University men's basketball team nearly came all the way back from a 14-point second-half deficit but fell just short, as Carnegie Mellon University held on for a 70-68 win on Friday, January 27, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
 
In front of a packed house of 1,903 fans, the Violets (14-2, 4-2) trailed 68-62 in the final minute following a pair of Christian Manoli free throws. With 24.5 seconds on the clock, Carl Yaffe converted a huge three-point play to pull NYU to within three.
 
The Tartans' (7-10, 2-4) Asad Meghani then went to the line with 20.5 seconds left, where he hit the first free throw and missed the second. Max Wein came down with the rebound, and after bringing the ball up court, Kyle Stockmal drained a deep three from the top of the arc to make it a one-point game, 69-68.
 
NYU then fouled Manoli with 10.2 ticks on the clock. He missed the first and hit the second, giving the Violets the chance to tie or take the lead. But they turned it over trying to feed Andy Stein in the paint and were forced to foul again, sending Rashaun Riley to the charity stripe with 1.3 seconds to go.
 
Needing a miss, NYU got just that, as Riley could not hit the first free throw. Carnegie Mellon then called timeout and had Riley intentionally miss the second free throw. Yaffe grabbed the rebound and heaved an 85-foot prayer that grazed the front of the rim – narrowly missing a miraculous game winner.
 
“We finally got some stops to go on the late run,” said Violet head coach Joe Nesci. “To Carnegie's credit, their offense was very efficient. They gave us a lot of trouble. Our effort was really good, we just needed to do a better job with our defensive rebounding.”
 
The Tartans' offense was particularly efficient in the first half, as the squad shot 62.5% (15-24) from the field and 55.6% (5-9) from three in the period. NYU led 13-9 early, but Carnegie Mellon then went on a 21-5 run to build a 12-point advantage.
 
The lead was still 12 when the Violets closed the half on 10-5 spurt to enter the locker room trailing 37-30. But the Tartans owned the early stages of the second period, using a 13-6 run to build a 50-36 lead with 14:37 to play.
 
NYU came right back with a 13-3 spurt to pull to within four. After a John Duhring three put Carnegie Mellon up eight, the Violets fought back again and made it a two-point game with 1:33 left with a Stockmal trifecta.
 
On the ensuing possession, NYU appeared to have made a stop when Manoli put up an airball, but Joe Kromka grabbed the errant shot and put home a putback to make it 66-62 with 1:02 remaining.
 
Yaffe and Stockmal both hit big shots to give the Violets their chances late, but in the end NYU could not come all the way back.
 
“I thought we were out of rhythm offensively,” commented Nesci. “They worked at not double-teaming in the post, being physical guarding us and working through our screens.”
 
Stein was the lone Violet in rhythm all night, as he scored a game-high 23 points. He also played huge on the defensive end, corralling eight rebounds and making a career-high seven blocks – one off the school record. Stockmal finished with 12 points on 4-5 shooting, while Yaffe had seven points and five assists.
 
Meghani led Carnegie Mellon with 16 points. Riley and Duhring scored 15 points apiece.
 
NYU returns to action on Sunday when it hosts Case Western Reserve University in another UAA tilt. Tip-off is at noon.