Led by Andy Stein's 22 points and Carl Yaffe's 21, the New York University men's basketball team won the opening game of the 2011 NYU Tip-Off Tournament 84-66 over The College of New Jersey on Saturday, November 19.
 
The Violets (1-0), who are hosting the tournament at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan, advance to the Tip-Off Championship, where they will face the winner of the matchup between Baruch College and Colby College on Sunday at 3:00 pm.
 
Stein totaled 22 points with just one miss, going 7-8 from the field and 8-8 from the free-throw line.
 
Yaffe, meanwhile, recorded his fourth career double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds. He also notched double-doubles in the final two games of the 2010-11 season, giving him three straight.
 
Though NYU held TCNJ (0-1) to just 37.5% (12-32) shooting in the first half, the Violets struggled to keep the Lions off the offensive glass, as TCNJ pulled down 10 offensive rebounds to enter halftime trailing by just seven, 40-33.
 
The Violets, however, rebounded significantly better in the second half while continuing to shoot well on offense. A 7-0 run to start the second period put NYU up 16, and TCNJ never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
 
"Our defense got some quick stops in the second half and we rebounded better," said head coach Joe Nesci. "Overall, our intensity was good and our defensive effort was good."
 
Stein added nine rebounds to his game-high 22 points. Two other Violets, Kyle Stockmal (11 points) and Max Wein (10 points), joined Stein and Yaffe in double figures.
 
NYU, which led all of Division III in assists per game in 2010-11, assisted on 21 of its 27 field goals, led by Ryan Tana's five. Stockmal and Yaffe added four apiece.
 
Alex Fox led the Lions with 11 points, while Donovan Smalls and Emmanuel Matlock added 10 each. Matlock also made a game-high four steals, while Kyle Cancillieri corralled a game-best 12 rebounds.
 
With the victory, the Violets have now won 12 straight season openers.