St. Louis, Mo., February 18, 2011 – Junior Dylan Richter and senior Spencer Gay each recorded a double-double as the Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team erased an 11-point second-half deficit on its way to a 67-61 victory over New York University on Friday night at the Washington University Field House in St. Louis, Mo.
Richter scored 20 points to go along with a career-high 16 rebounds on the way to his first-career double-double while Gay scored 18 points and pulled down 11 boards. Gay has now scored in double-figures in 21 of the Bears' 23 games this season.
Washington University scored the first six points of the game to jump out to an early lead against New York as the Violets missed their first four shots of the game and turned the ball over twice before D.J. Glavan drilled a three-pointer.
The successful long-range shooting continued for New York as the Violets drilled two more threes as they built a 15-9 lead midway through the first half. Washington University's cold shooting continued as NYU took a 25-17 lead on an Andy Stein lay-up with the Bears shooting just 22 percent from the field at that point, including 0-of-6 from three-point range.
Senior Caleb Knepper drained a three-pointer to pull his team to within five, 25-20, but that was as close as they would get, with New York leading by as many as 10 late in the first half. Richter and Knepper led the way offensively for Washington U. with seven first-half points, while Stein led all scorers with eight through 20 minutes of action.
New York shot 50 percent from the field and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from three-point range as it took a 33-25 lead into the locker room. Conversely, Washington University hit just 10-of-23 field goals (26.3 percent) and the Bears were 2-of-10 from long-distance.
New York (14-9, 3-9 UAA) extended its lead to 11 points on a Max Wein lay-up six minutes into the second half, but Washington University mounted a comeback, using a 10-0 run that concluded with a three-pointer from freshman Tim Cooney to pull within one point with 10 minutes to play.
A Richter three-pointer a minute later knotted the score at 47-47, and the Bears took the lead for the first time since the 12:30 mark of the first half when Cooney made a driving baseline lay-up to make the score 51-50.
Another three from Richter put the Bears up by three, 59-56, with a little over two minutes to play, and the Washington University lead became five when sophomore Ben Hoener made a 12-foot jumper with 90 seconds remaining. A Stein three pulled the Violets to within two points 28 seconds to play, but they would get no closer down the stretch.
Stein (17) and Glavan (16) led New York offensively. After shooting 50 percent in the first half the Violets shot just 39.3 percent in the second half while the Bears were 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) from the field in the second period. Washington University ended with a 45-34 lead in rebounding and a commanding 19-4 edge in second-chance scoring.
Washington University (12-11, 6-6 UAA) continues its three-game homestand against Brandeis University on Sunday, Feb. 20, at Noon. Washington U. invites all kids currently in fourth grade through eighth grade to join us for Youth Day on Sunday.
Bear Notebook: Washington University leads the all-time series with New York, 36-11, and the Bears have won 12-straight meetings with the Violets … The Bears are now one win away from securing their school-record 27th-consecutive winning season … Washington U. improves to 7-2 at home in 2010-11 and is 66-8 (.890) at home dating back to the 2005-06 season.