News Release

NEW YORK — The New York University men’s basketball held the ball beyond the three-point circle in the final seconds with a chance to tie the game, force overtime and overcome a 16-point second-half deficit.

Instead, a three-pointer by senior guard Matt Basford clanged off the rim. The University of Rochester iced the game with two free throws with 1.7 seconds remaining to clinch a 58-53 University Athletic Association victory over the Violets before 2,496 fans at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center on Friday night.

NYU (16-5, 5-5 UAA) entered the game ranked #16 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, its highest ranking ever, but committed two costly turnovers in the final two minutes when it had a chance to tie the game. It was the Violets’ first home court loss after starting the season with 13 straight victories.

Senior swingman Michael DeCorso led NYU with 17 points, while senior center Jason Boone had 12 points and six rebounds.

Rochester (16-5, 7-3 UAA) got a game-high 21 points from Tim Brackney.

The Yellowjackets did a stellar job of silencing the packed crowd at the Coles Center, going on a 13-0 run to take a 42-28 lead with 13:15 remaining.

However, the vociferous Violet backers found plenty to cheer as their team chiseled away at the Rochester lead. Junior guard Charlie Parker (12 points, seven assists) capped a 16-4 run with 5:14 left to get NYU within 46-44. The Violets shot 55.6% (10-18) in the second half after hitting just 22.7 (5-22) of its first-half attempts.

On the Yellowjackets’ next trip down the floor, though, center Jon Onyiriuka (13 points, eight rebounds) followed up his own miss to help Rochester go up 48-44.

Still, NYU got within three points twice down the stretch, the last coming when Parker canned a three-pointer with :15 left to make it 56-53.

The Violets had a chance to create even more drama after Brackney missed the front end of a one-and-one, but their ensuing trip down the floor ended when Basford’s trifecta try bounced into the waiting hands of Robert Dominiak. Dominiak was fouled, and then drained two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to ice the game.

NYU led 14-6 to start the game after the Yellowjackets missed 12 of their first 14 shots. Then Brackney got going and helped Rochester hit seven of its next nine shots. Brackney scored eight of his 10 first-half points during the Yellowjackets’ 21-6 half-ending run as his team took a 27-20 lead into the locker room.

NYU returns to action Sunday, Feb. 11, when it hosts UAA adversary Carnegie Mellon University at noon.

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER 58, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 53
UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER (16-5, 7-3 UAA)
Brackney, Tim 8-14 2-3 21; Onyiriuka, Jon 5-13 3-4 13; Dominiak, Robert 1-3
5-5 8; Milbrand, Dan 2-3 1-1 5; Ndubizu, Uche 1-2 1-1 3; Chmielowiec, Mike
1-7 0-0 3; Juron, Jeff 0-3 3-4 3; Snider, Eric 1-1 0-0 2; Kaplan, Max 0-2
0-0 0. Totals 19-48 15-18 58.
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (16-5, 5-5 UAA)
DeCorso, Michael 6-12 2-2 17; Parker, Charlie 3-6 5-5 12; Boone, Jason 2-7
8-10 12; Clark, Chael 1-2 3-4 5; Magee, Michael 2-6 0-0 4; Wilson, Matthew
1-2 0-0 2; Mish, John 0-0 1-2 1; Jensen, Keith 0-0 0-0 0; Kuba, Zach 0-0 0-0
0; Basford, Matt 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 15-40 19-23 53.
University of Rochester.......   27   31  -   58
New York University...........   20   33  -   53
3-point goals--University of Rochester 5-13 (Brackney, Tim 3-6; Dominiak,
Robert 1-3; Chmielowiec, Mike 1-3; Kaplan, Max 0-1), New York University
4-15 (DeCorso, Michael 3-7; Parker, Charlie 1-3; Magee, Michael 0-1;
Basford, Matt 0-4). Fouled out--University of Rochester-Ndubizu, Uche, New
York University-None. Rebounds--University of Rochester 31 (Onyiriuka, Jon
8), New York University 29 (Magee, Michael 8). Assists--University of
Rochester 7 (Onyiriuka, Jon 1; Brackney, Tim 1; Snider, Eric 1; Kaplan, Max
1; Juron, Jeff 1; Milbrand, Dan 1; Chmielowiec, Mike 1), New York University
10 (Parker, Charlie 7). Total fouls--University of Rochester 21, New York
University 17. Technical fouls--University of Rochester-None, New York
University-None. A-2496
NYU is ranked #16 by D3hoops.com.