New York University men's basketball head coach Joe Nesci earned
his 400th career win as the Violets defeated Case
Western Reserve University 73-63 on Friday, January 11, in front of
1,076 fans at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
Nesci, who has been the NYU coach since the 1988-89 season, has
accumulated a 400-193 (.675) career record. He has led the Violets
to six 20-win seasons, including a career-best 25-5 mark in 1993-94
when NYU finished as National Runner-up at the NCAA Division III
Championship.
Entering the season, just 60 Division III men's basketball
coaches had reached 400 wins. Nesci now trails only NYU Hall
of Famer Howard Cann in career victories (409) and games coached
(641).
"I've been fortunate to coach at NYU for a long time," said
Nesci. "It's a great institution and I'm proud to be part of it. I
feel blessed to have coached a lot of terrific young men over these
23 years."
Several of those young men lifted Nesci to his 400th win on
the strength of an 11-0 run midway through the second half. After
the Spartans (8-13, 4-6) took their first lead of the second period
on a Tom Summers layup, 41-40, the Violets (13-8, 2-8) exploded for
11 unanswered points.
The spurt began when Andy Stein, who led NYU to a five-point
halftime advantage with 17 of the team's 30 first-period points,
hit a pair of free throws. Kyle Stockmal then made a steal on the
defensive end and raced up the floor, completing a give-and-go with
Carl Yaffe and hitting the and-one for a three-point play.
After a missed three by Case, Derek Becker drove and dished to
Stein for a layup. Yaffe then came up with a steal – one of
the Violets' season-high 11 – on defense and converted a
jumper on offense. Stein completed the decisive run with another
layup.
From there NYU led by as many as 17 en route to snapping its
four-game losing streak and giving its coach an historic win.
Stein finished with a career-high 27 points on 10-of-13
shooting as well as three steals. Becker added 16 points
(7-for-11), five assists and three steals, while D.J. Glavan
totaled 12 points and five boards.
Reid Anderson led the Spartans with 17 points. Austin Fowler
had 14 points and six rebounds, while Summers and Tim Chung netted
12 points apiece.
The Violets return to the court on Sunday when they host
Carnegie Mellon University. Tip-off is at noon.