The New York University men's basketball team, ranked #17 in the nation by D3hoops.com, trailed until the final minute before pulling out a 75-72 win over Washington University in St. Louis in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest on Sunday afternoon, January 24, in St. Louis, MO.
Evan Kupferberg's game-highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds fueled the Violets' comeback. His layup with 35 seconds left gave NYU its first lead of the game.
After Washington's Luke Silverman-Lloyd missed a three-pointer,
Ross Udine made two free throws with 15 seconds left. The Bears then worked for a potential game-tying three-pointer, but the Violets' defense stiffened.
Max Ralby's steal with two seconds left clinched the thrilling victory for NYU.
"After a rough start our guys settled in on both ends of court," said NYU Head Coach
Joe Nesci. "In the second half we kept it close and hit a few key buckets. Our defense down the stretch made some big stops and created turnovers."
The Violets (13-2, 2-2) fell behind right from the start, as the Bears (10-6, 2-3) scored the first five points of the game and raced to an 11-2 lead. Washington increased its lead to a game-high 12 points midway through the first half. But, the Violets pulled to with four at halftime, 43-39, as
Joe Timmes scored all of his season-high 14 points over the first 20 minutes.
NYU cut its deficit to two points on a pair of occasions early in the second half, but still trailed by 10, 67-57, with 8:52 remaining in the game.
Costis Gonkas' layup with 8:04 left began the NYU rally, which culminated in the last-minute victory.
"We got great contributions across the board," Nesci explained. "Joe gave us a big lift in the first half. Our entire bench made big plays, and Ross' free throws at the end were clutch."
HIGHLIGHTS:-
Patrick Burns helped spearhead the comeback, scoring all of his eight points and collecting nine of his 10 rebounds in the second half.
- Udine finished with a game-high nine assists, adding nine points, three rebounds and two steals.
- Gontikas had eight points, three rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.
- Matt Highsmith led the Bears with 14 points.
The Violets return to action on Friday, January 29, when they host Carnegie Mellon University. Tip-off is set for 8:00 pm.
