The New York University men's basketball team was defeated 70-66 by visiting Carnegie Mellon University in University Athletic Association (UAA) action on Sunday, February 10, at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.

Carnegie Mellon improved to 10-12 this season and 5-6 in UAA action, while the Violets dropped to 7-15 overall and 1-10 in Association play.

NYU led for most of the first half and jumped out to a game-high 10-point lead on Dom Cristiano's three-pointer, which made the score 31-21 with just over four minutes left before halftime.

The Tartans answered Cristiano's triple with 18-straight points before Jule Brown ended the run with a pair of free throws and the Violets trailed 39-33 at halftime.

Carnegie Mellon controlled play early in the second half and increased its lead to a game-high 12 points, 47-35, on a layup from Seth Henry with 15:16 remaining.

The Tartans still led by eight with 5:16 to play, before a 9-0 NYU run gave the hosts a 66-65 advantage.

Zach Howarth stopped the NYU run and put CMU in front 67-66 with 2:30 remaining in the contest. The Tartans held onto their lead for the remainder of the game and sealed the win on a free throw from Colin McNeil with just eight seconds to play.

Cristiano led the Violets with a game-high 23 points and added a game-high eight rebounds. 

Henry was the Tartans' top scorer, finishing with 15 points. 

NYU returns to the court on Friday, February 15, when it travels to take on Washington University in St. Louis. Tip-off is slated for 8pm central time in St. Louis, MO.