In a battle for first place in the University Athletic Association (UAA),
the #11-ranked New York University men's basketball team defeated #10 Case Western Reserve University 93-80 on Friday, February 9, at the John A. Paulson Center in Manhattan.
The Violets lost to the Spartans 94-76 on January 12, and would have dropped into a tie for first place with another loss.
"This was a big win for the team. A big win for the program," said Head Coach
Dave Klatsky.
After trailing early, the Violets (18-3, 8-2) took a 14-point lead, 36-22, on
Hampton Sanders' three-pointer with 5:06 remaining in the first half.
NYU's lead was cut to 43-36 at halftime, and Case Western Reserve (17-4, 6-4) opened the second half on an 8-0 run to re-take the lead.
However, back-to-back three-pointers from
Michael Savarino and Sanders, followed by a layup from
Hayden Peek, and another three from
Spencer Freedman accounted for an 11-0 run putting NYU back in front.
The Violets never gave up the lead, with the Spartans only getting as close as six points the rest of the way.
NYU's took its biggest lead, 88-72, on a pair of Savarino free throws with 1:18 remaining and went on to win its seventh-consecutive game.
Five Violets scored in double figures, with Savarino leading the way with 22 points.
Sanders had 21 points, only missing one shot (8-of-9 FG, 5-of-5 3FG).
"After my first shot, everything felt really good and things started to roll," Sanders explained.
Freedman finished with 17 points, Onuama scored 11 and Peek added 10.
Onuama collected a team-high eight rebounds, while Freedman led the way with seven assists.
NYU shot 50 percent from the field (30-of-60) and even better, 58.3 percent (14-of-24), from behind the three-point line.
"It's hard to beat a team like us when we're shooting so well from three," Klatsky added.
The Violets' final regular-season home game will be this Super Bowl Sunday, when NYU celebrates Senior Day back at the Paulson Center. Tip-off for the UAA contest vs. Carnegie Mellon University is set for 12:00pm.
