The New York University men's basketball team opened NCAA Tournament play with a 65-53 win over Gettysburg University on Friday, March 6, in Middletown, CT.

The Violets (18-8), who advanced to the National Championship Game last season, will face host Wesleyan University in the Second Round at 6:15pm on Saturday.

NYU fell behind in Friday's contest 4-0 and trailed 7-6 before going on a 14-0 run and seizing the lead for the rest of the game.

The Violets led 35-21 at halftime and increased their advantage to as many as 15 points several times in the second half.

Gettysburg (18-10) pulled within seven, 55-48, with 4:17 remaining.

Quinn Clark and Darren Rubin followed with consecutive layups and the Violets led by at least eight the rest of the way.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game against a really good team," said Head Coach Waleed Farid. "I thought we set the tone with our defense. It got a little close there towards the end, but our guys showed a lot of poise." 

Rubin finished with a game-high 24 points, connecting on 9-of-13 from the field. He added six rebounds, a game-high seven assists, two steals, and a block.

"I'm really lucky to play with teammates who trust me to go play my game when I'm hot like that," Rubin said. "Coach lets me do that too, so it was really a lot of fun out there."

Bryan Moussako scored nine points and Luke Kolaja had eight.

Carnegie Johnson grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Violets.   

"We're just going to try and get some rest, find out who we're playing and then start preparing for another tough test tomorrow," Farid added.