“Our players were in a situation to win a big game, and that is what we did today,” said WU head coach Mark Edwards. “This is a huge win for our program, especially for the seniors.”
Senior Mike Grunst took advantage of his seven-foot frame early in the first half as he scored six of the Bears first eight points as WU jumped out to an early 8-3 lead with 15:35 left. The Violets were sluggish out of the gate on offense as they played without leading scorer Jason Boone (15.9 ppg) for the second-straight game.
Three-point shooting kept NYU in the game in the first half as five of the Violets first seven buckets were from beyond the arc. A three-pointer by Charlie Parker cut the Bears lead to 20-19 with 5:09 left, but Grunst added two buckets to push the lead to 26-21. NYU ended the half by scoring the final five points as the score was tied 26-26 at half time. The first half was played in a total of 28 minutes as the two teams combined to shoot just one free-throw.
Grunst had 12 points in the first half to lead all scorers as the Bears shot 48.0% (12-25) from the field. He was 6-of-9 from the field and had eight rebounds and three blocks in the opening half. New York was 10-of-30 (33.3%) from the field in the first half, including 5-of-12 from beyond the arc. All eight NYU players scored in the first half, led by six points by Michael DeCorso.
Matt Basford gave NYU their first lead of the game as he drained a three-pointer, and then Jared Kildare added a lay-up as NYU extended its run to 10-0 to take a 31-26 lead early in the second half.
The Bears fell behind as far as eight (41-33), but sophomore Danny O’Boyle came off the bench to score eight points in 73 seconds to knot the score. Tied at 43-43, freshman Sean Wallis hit back-to-back lay-ups, O’Boyle connected on two free-throws on a technical foul by NYU head coach Joe Nesci, and sophomore Troy Ruths added a lay-up to push the lead to 51-43.
NYU would not go away as they answered with an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 53-51. The Violets had a chance to tie on two occasions with under a minute to play, but Michael DeCorso missed two free-throws and Kildare’s three-pointer was in and out. Wallis connected on six-consecutive free-throws to seal the victory for the Bears.
O’Boyle lrd the Bears in scoring with 17 points, while Grunst finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Wallis had a career-high 10 points connecting on 6-of-6 free-throws. Ruths had a season-low eight points, as his streak of 28-consecutive games in double figures came to an end. Kildare had 12 points and 12 assists to lead New York (18-6, 7-6 UAA).
The win for the Bears was the 200th victory in UAA history, becoming the first team to record 200 or more wins. Since the 1987-88 season, the Bears have compiled a UAA overall record of 200-62 (.763).
Washington University (17-7, 9-4 UAA) returns to action Sat., Feb. 25 at the University of Chicago. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at the Gerald Ratner Athletics Center in Chicago.