The New York University men's basketball team hosted University Athletic Association (UAA) rival Washington University-St. Louis on Sunday afternoon, February 21, at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan. It was the final day of operation for the facility before its official decommissioning. The Violets were defeated by the Bears 71-70.
Sunday was also Senior Day for NYU, as the Violets honored their seven graduating players –
Tony Bai,
Max Ralby,
Evan Kupferberg,
Brad Lahens,
Patrick Burns,
Costis Gontikas, and
Jose Canario – as well as its senior, three-year manager Ana Piscuskas.
"This has been a great place to play over my four years," said Ralby, a two-year captain. "There are so many great memories; the games and the people. I've been honored and blessed."
The Violets' record fell to 19-5 overall and 8-5 in the UAA, while Washington improved to 14-10 (6-7 UAA).
NYU's Achilles heel all afternoon was trouble at the foul line. The Violets finished 9-of-21 (42.9 percent) from the charity stripe, while the Bears shot 70.4 percent (19-of-27).
Despite that, the Violets were able to control the pace of play throughout the first half and went into the break with a 35-27 lead. The key for NYU in the first half was their ability to convert on Washington's miscues – the Violets outscored the Bears 11-0 in points off turnovers in the half. NYU also dominated under the basket and on the boards. The squad outscored the Bears 20-4 in the paint and 12-4 in second-chance points.
The Bears turned it around in the second half, though, and outscored NYU 44-35 to come away with the one-point victory. Washington eventually took a three-point lead with 9:07 remaining on a Matt Highsmith put back, but the Violets were able to inch back and take a two-point lead after Kupferberg hit a pair of free-throws with 6:36 left.
Washington jumped back out to a four-point lead, 66-62, with 4:34 remaining, but NYU scored the next four and tied it once again, 66-66, with 2:34 left. The Bears sank two straight layups at 2:17 and 1:41 to take a four-point, 70-66 lead, and the Violets were unable to surmount that lead for the remainder of the contest.
"It was just one of those tough games where everyone left everything out on the court, but things didn't break our way," said NYU Assistant Coach
Adam Parmenter. "We just have to look ahead and prepare for next Saturday."
HIGHLIGHTS: - Kupferberg led NYU in points (20) and rebounds (9).
- Burns (12 points, eight rebounds) and Gontikas (13 points, eight rebounds, game-best four blocks) also performed well for the Violets.
- Bai finished 4-of-6 (2-of-4 from three) on the day to notch 10 points.
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Ross Udine nearly registered a double-double and finished with nine points and a game-high 10 assists.
- Andrew Sanders led Washington with game-highs in points (23) and rebounds (14).
The Violets will close out their regular season on Saturday afternoon, February 27, in Waltham, MA, when NYU and Brandeis University are scheduled to tipoff at 3:00 pm.
