The New York University men's basketball team dropped a 73-70 heartbreaker to Washington University in St. Louis on Sunday, January 26, in St. Louis, MO.

The Bears (14-2, 5-0), currently ranked #13 in the nation by D3hoops.com, overcame a 17-point deficit and withstood a last-second three-point attempt by Jimmy Martinelli (Glenview, IL/Glenbrook South) to escape with the University Athletic Association (UAA) victory over the Violets (7-9, 0-5).

"Our program took a big step forward today," said Head Coach Dagan Nelson. "After a tough loss on Friday in Chicago, we came in here and gave everything we had. There was never a thought that we couldn't win this game."

NYU shot out of the gate, taking a game-high 17-point lead when Miles Somerville (Bowie, MD/Georgetown Prep) hit a layup with 8:05 left in the first half.

The Bears cut into that lead, however, getting to within nine points before the Violets re-established a double-digit lead, 36-26, at halftime. 

NYU maintained the advantage until Jack Nolan hit a layup with 7:38 remaining, putting Washington ahead 56-54.  

The Bears increased their lead to as many as seven points, but the Violets would not go away.

Ethan Feldman's (New York, NY/The Salisbury School) three-pointer with 1:16 remaining brought NYU within two, 70-68.

Somerville hit a layup with 40 ticks left to bring the Violets within one point, 71-70.

The Bears' DeVaughn Rucker hit two free throws with seven seconds left. Then, after timeouts by both teams, Martinelli could not connect on his game-tying attempt. 

"Jimmy's shot just rimmed out. A tough break for us," Nelson added. "We didn't lose this game, we were beaten by the 13th-ranked team in the country."

Feldman led NYU with 19 points, while Nick Macarchuk (Alamo, CA/St. Thomas Moore Prep) finished with 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

Bobby Hawkinson (Frankfort, IL/Marist) added seven points, six rebounds and a team-best four assists.

DeVaughn led four Bears in double-figures with 18 points

Each team connected on 25 field goals and seven three-point attempts, but Washington made 16 of its 22 free throws while NYU only made 13 of 24.  

"We hurt ourselves on the foul ine, but we got great efforts from all our players," Nelson concluded. "We're setting the bar higher as we finish up with our final nine UAA games, starting with our two games at home next weekend." 

The Violets return to action on Friday, January 31, when they host Carnegie Mellon University in another UAA contest. Tip-off is set for 8:00pm at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.