The New York University men's basketball team, returning to the court for the first time in 18 days, was defeated by Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) 80-63 on Sunday, December 29, at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.

The Violets, who last played on December 11 in a 75-68 win over Hunter College, are now 6-4 overall while the Colonials improved to 8-3.

WSCU jumped out to an early 11-4 lead. However, the Violets embarked on an 11-4 run to tie the game 15-15 with 8:31 left in the half.

NYU took its first lead of the contest, 20-19, thanks to a short jumper from Cade Hoppe (El Dorado Hills, CA/Oak Ridge) with 7:06 remaining in the half. 

However WCSU then took control and led 36-29 at halftime. 

The visitors increased their lead in the second half to nine points, 40-31, on a Tyler Scalazo layup with 17:41 remaining. But a three-ball from Riley Demps (New Orleans, LA/Isidore Newman) started a 7-0 run for the Violets to bring them back within two, 40-38.

NYU fell behind by seven points twice before a final rally brought them to within three, 61-58, on a Jaden Narwal (Vancouver, Canada/Collingwood School) layup with 5:58 left in the game. However, the Colonials went on a 17-7 run to thwart NYU's comeback attempt.

 Hoppe led the way for NYU, posting 17 points and seven rebounds. 

"I thought for 40 minutes WCSU played harder than us," said Head Coach Dagan Nelson. "They got every 50/50 ball and just wanted the game more than us." 

Bobby Hawkinson (Frankfort, IL/Marist) finished with 12 points while Demps tallied a season-high nine points in the loss.

Ryan Alkins led Western Connecticut with 14 points. 

"We had 19 turnovers and we knew that they were going to press us," Nelson explained. "We did not execute our game plan and they deserved to win the game." 

The Violets return to action on Wednesday, January 8, when they travel to Chestnut Hill, MA, for a matchup against Pine Manor College. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00pm.