The New York University men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Medgar Evers College, 79-77, on Saturday, December 2, in Brooklyn, NY.

Medgar Evers' Maurice Swaby II banked in an improbable three over the outstretched hands of Dom Cristiano with less than three seconds to go in the contest, giving the Cougars the home victory. It was only Swaby's second made field goal of the game, despite taking 14 shots.

The Cougars (2-3) and Violets (3-2) traded buckets and the lead within the game's last two minutes. Cristiano's layup with 24 seconds remaining gave the Violets their final lead, 77-76, before Swaby II applied the finishing dagger.  

"They had to score over us at the end and give them credit," said Assistant Coach Taylor Roth. "The ball went in. They played well."

After falling behind 32-29 at the halftime, NYU roared back with a 7-0 run to start the second half and eventually took a pair of 12-point leads. Douglas Gertner was the main contributor for NYU, scoring 16 of his game-high 19 points and connecting on all eight of his free throws in the second half. 

"Doug just played so hard. He was aggressive getting to the rim," Roth explained. "When he started hitting some creases and getting into a groove, it was really good to see."

However, the Violets were outscored 25-11 over the final six minutes as the victory slipped away.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

- Cristiano had 21 points to lead the Violets, while adding 10 rebounds and two blocks.

- Bobby Hawkinson contributed a game-high 13 rebounds.

- Ross Udine scored 15 points.

 - NYU out-rebounded the Cougars 50-30.

- Justin Sutton scored a game-high 32 points for Medgar Evers.

The Violets will return to their home court at the Sportsplex to hist the College of New Rochelle at 7pm on Thursday, December 7.