With 1.5 seconds remaining,
Patrick Burns inbounded the ball the length of the court.
Costis Gontikas tipped the pass forward at the foul line to a wide open
Evan Kupferberg who laid the ball in the basket as the buzzer sounded.
That was the final play of the game on Sunday afternoon, February 8, in Atlanta, GA, as the New York University men's basketball team defeated #14 (
D3hoops.com) Emory University 72-70.
"We've worked on plays like that in practice, but you need luck and execution for it to work in-game," said NYU Senior Assistant Coach
John Pelin. "The guys knew what to do, Patrick made a great pass, Costis went up and tipped it right to Evan, who was where he was supposed to be and he caught it and scored. They did a great job with the execution."
The Violets (14-6, 5-4 University Athletic Association) were led by Kupferberg, who poured in a game-best 24 points (11-of-16 shooting) and a game-high-tying eight rebounds.
"Evan did a great job. He was aggressive. He demanded the ball. He was in really good position," continued Pelin. "When he gets good post position, he's going to score most of the time. He really set the tone for us down low and made us hard to guard."
NYU never trailed the Eagles (15-5, 5-4 UAA) at any point during the contest, leading by as much as 10 points late in the first half. Despite that, Emory was able to tie the game at 70-70 with 1:34 remaining. Following a series of turnovers, missed shots and timeouts, the Violets found themselves in a situation to win the game with 1.5 seconds remaining. That led to the aforementioned buzzer-beating lay-in from Kupferberg.
HIGHLIGHTS: -
Hakeem Harris finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The junior guard was 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.
- Gontikas chipped in 12 points and six rebounds. The 6-foot-9 center also led all players with four monstrous blocks.
- NYU outrebounded Emory 47-36. The Violets also clamped down on the Eagles beyond the arc, holding the home team to just 7.1 percent (2-for-28) from long range, including 0-for-14 in the second half.
"We always talk about having our guys fly around on defense, and their second and third efforts, and I think we did that today," said Pelin. "Any time we contest a three-point shot we feel good about it, and we did a great job getting a hand up in all their shots."
The Violets will return to action on Friday night, February 13, when they host Case Western Reserve University at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan. The game will be "
Violet Nation Giveaway Day" and is scheduled to tipoff at 8:00 pm following the completion of the women's game.
Live stats and
live video will be available.
"The UAA is really tight and competitive, as it always is," said Pelin. "We just have to worry about playing Case Western Reserve, who got us pretty good at their place. We're excited to have them come in, and we're looking forward to playing the tough teams left on our schedule."
