The New York University men's basketball team is headed back to the Division III National Championship for the first time since its lone appearance in 1994. The #1-ranked Violets knocked of Washington University in St. Louis 72-60 in the national semifinal on Thursday, March 20, in Fort Wayne, IN. 

With the win, NYU completed a three-game sweep of the Bears this season. 

After Brock Susko knocked down the first shot of the night from deep, WashU came back down the court with three consecutive field goals. The two teams traded buckets throughout the opening stages of the first half, as the Bears led 15-11 at the 12-minute mark. The Violets then went on a 15-0 run over the next four minutes and did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the contest. In that span, WashU was held to 0-of-5 from the field. 

NYU continued to keep the Bears at arm's length, but a 5-0 WashU run with under four minutes remaining until halftime made it a 32-27 game. The Violets went into the locker room with a 39-33 advantage. 

Out of halftime, Hampton Sanders drilled a pair of three-pointers to put NYU back up by double-digits. However, with just over 15 minutes left in the game, the Bears converted on a shot from beyond the arc to get back to with six. 

As they did all night, the Violets regrouped and strung together a 10-2 run to take a 49-35 advantage. The run featured three-pointers by both Jack Stone and Sanders.

"Just so excited for this group and the resilience they showed," said Head Coach Dave Klatsky. "Watching these guys come through, make big play after big play ... we were able to make enough big plays to get the win."

Though WashU did manage to close the gap to eight with under seven minutes left to go, NYU held the Bears to just two field goals made for the remainder of the night. Between the five-minute mark and three-minute mark, Susko scored seven straight points by himself, which gave the Violets their largest lead of the night at 67-52.

"We have so many guys that can go off," explained Susko. "Those three possessions just happened to be my turn."

With 20 points on the night, Sanders shot lights out from beyond the arc with a career-high 6-of-6 shooting from the three-point line. Susko registered a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Tristan How fell one board shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.

"I haven't had a great tournament so far, but today I just happened to see the ball go through the rim," said Sanders. "My teammates kept finding me, so grateful for them and happy to move on."

As a team, NYU held the Bears to 8-of-30 from deep.

With the National Championship on the line, the Violets will face Trinity College (CT) on Saturday, March 22, at 4 p.m. in Fort Wayne, IN. It will be the fourth all-time meeting between the two programs, with the last match-up occurring in the 1919-1920 season.