With big defensive stops and clutch free-throw shooting late, the #21 New York University men's basketball team knocked #25 Stevens Institute of Technology from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 71-65 victory on Sunday, December 9, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.
 
The score was tied at 63-63 with just a minute to play when Ryan Tana made a steal and found Max Wein in transition. Wein was fouled on his layup attempt and hit both free throws to put the Violets (6-1) ahead.
 
From there, NYU came up with two more big stops and ultimately went 8-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute to hand the Ducks (6-1) their first loss of the season.
 
Highlights
 
- In a back-and-forth first half that featured five lead changes, the Violets took a slim 34-31 lead into the break with a late run. Trailing 25-19, NYU went on a 12-2 spurt, which was capped by an emphatic one-handed slam from Evan Kupferberg after he made a steal and went coast-to-coast.
 
- The Violets eventually took the largest lead for either side with 13:16 left in the second half, going up 51-41 after Carl Yaffe converted a three-point play and then sank a trey.
 
- Stevens, however, came all the way back, going on a 17-6 run to regain the lead at 58-57. The teams then traded leads before NYU took over at the line and on the defensive end. Wein, Kupferberg, Kyle Stockmal, and Yaffe combined to go 8-8 for at the charity stripe in the final minute, while the defense held the Ducks to just a putback with 4.8 seconds left and the game already out of reach.
 
- Filling in for regular starting center Devin Karch, the Violets' second-leading scorer who was out with an illness, Kupferberg came up big. He scored a career-high 18 points, going 6-7 from the field and 6-8 from the line, and added eight rebounds and three steals.
 
- Yaffe also netted 18 points for NYU to go along with four assists. Kyle Stockmal had 14 points, while Wein recorded 10 points and five boards.
 
"I thought we shared the ball well and did a good job defensively," said Head Coach Joe Nesci. "The guys stepped up big without their starting center – Evan came in and was our leading scorer and rebounder. This was a great game for us against an excellent Stevens team to help get us ready for UAA [University Athletic Association] play."
 
The Violets are off for three weeks before returning to the court on Saturday and Sunday, December 29-30, for their annual Holiday Classic at Coles. They face Widener University at 6:00 pm on Dec. 29 to open the classic.