The 2015-16 New Yok University men's basketball season came to an end with a 67-64 loss to host Christopher Newport University in a NCAA Division III Second Round Tournament game at the Freeman Center in Newport News, VA, on Saturday, March 5.
The Violets (21-6) fell just short as the #4-ranked (
D3hoops.com) Captains (28-1) held on for the victory.
Evan Kupferberg led all scorers with 25 points, while
Costis Gontikas (17 points, 13 rebounds) and
Patrick Burns (11 points, 10 rebounds) each recorded double-doubles.
The Violets came storming out of the gate, scoring the game's first eight points and taking a game-high nine-point lead, 18-9, on a layup by
Ross Udine with 11:20 remaining in the first half.
NYU still led by nine, 20-11, when Christopher Newport reeled off the next 12 points and took its first lead of the game. The Violets recaptured a pair of one-point leads before the Captains went on to a 33-29 halftime advantage.
The Violets overcame their deficit and used a 9-0 streak to take a 56-50 lead with 7:23 left in the game.
From that point, there were five lead changes and two ties, with the Captains taking the lead for good on two free throws by Marcus Carter with 2:51 left.
However, NYU still had chances to go ahead or tie, but
Ross Udine's three-point attempt with eight seconds to go and the Violets down by one bounced away. And, after Tim Daley hit two free throws for Christopher Newport with just over a second to play,
Tony Bai was short on a three-point attempt at the buzzer.
"It was a great, great college game," said Head Coach
Joe Nesci. "I could not have asked for more from my guys tonight."
HIGHLIGHTS:-Kupferberg concluded his outstanding NYU career with 1,551 career points (#4 on the Violets' all-time list) and 886 career rebounds (#3).
"It's been a long journey," Kupferberg said. "We've seen progressoion every year, and I couldn't have asked for more in my NYU career."
-Gontikas finished his career with 1,166 career points, #19 on the Violets' all-time scoring list. He also contributed five blocks in the game.
"Playing in the NCAA Tournament was a great experience," Gontikas said. "The emotion level was really up. It was certainly more stressful, but it was enjoyable for us to play in such games."
- Udine finished with a game-high four assists.
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Max Ralby had four points, six rebounds and an assist, while Bai had two points and two rebounds in their final games for NYU.
- Carter led the Captains with 21 points and 12 rebounds.
