After dropping its first game of the season on Saturday, the Violets returned home and defeated SUNY Maritime 74-68 on Tuesday, November 23, at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility.

Bobby Hawkinson (Frankfort, IL/Marist) was the big gun for NYU, posting a double-double with 25 points and 15 rebounds to go with three assists and two blocks. 

"My teammates looked to get me the ball. Coach talked about the size advantage we had and we wanted to exploit that," Hawkinson said. "It was a point of emphasis, and my teammates and coaches did a great job setting that up." 

The Violets (5-1) trailed by as many as six points midway through the first half. With the Privateers (2-2) still leading 19-16, NYU scored the next 10 points and never trailed again.  

NYU increased its lead to a game-high 14 points, 59-45, on Hawkinson's three-point play with 7:32 left in the game.

Maritime closed the gap to five points several times late in the contest, but the Violets made three free throws in the final minute to secure the win. 

Jacob Sussman (Mount Olive, NJ/The Lawrenceville School) and Alex Maticiuc (Monaco, Monte-Carlo/St. Thomas More School (Montville, CT)) each added 11 points for the Violets, while Sussman and Nick Macarchuk (Alamo, CA/St. Thomas Moore Prep) each contributed six rebounds.

"It was important for us to get the win today after what happened on Saturday," explained Hawkinson, referring to the team's 88-60 loss at Hobart on Saturday. "It was uncharacteristic of our team, so we just had to focus on getting the win tonight."

NYU fell one made-shot short of the 50% plateau, going 27-of-55 from the field (49.1%). Maritime was held to 35.5% shooting (22-of-62) from the floor and 29.4% (10-of-34) from three-point range.  

"We have a goal of keep teams from hitting 40% overall and 30% from three-point range," said Head Coach Dagan Nelson. "We were able to do that tonight and we found a way to win when we didn't play our best. We will continue to look to improve and look forward to our next practice and film session on Friday."

The Violets return to the court on Sunday, November 28, when they face The College at Old Westbury at 12:00pm at Farmingdale State College in Farmingdale, NY. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone....