St. Louis, Mo., January 18, 2013 – The No. 13 ranked Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team broke open a three-point game in the second half with a 14-0 run as the Bears posted a 68-59 win over New York University in University Athletic Association (UAA) play Friday night in St. Louis.
Washington U. outrebounded New York 39-29 in the win, and turned 18 offensive rebounds into a 26-7 advantage in second-chance points. The Bears have outrebounded 12 of its 15 opponents this season, and leads Division III with a +13.3 rebound margin.
Junior guard Alan Aboona (15 points), senior guard Ben Hoener (15 points) and junior forward Chris Klimek (13 points) all scored in double figures for Washington U., who improved to 12-3 overall and 2-2 in UAA play. Sophomore forward Matt Palucki added six points, five assists and 10 rebounds in the win.
New York dropped its overall record to 12-3, including 2-2 in UAA play. Carl Yaffe led the Violets with 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while Max Wein added 11 points and six boards. New York hit 8-of-22 from three-point range and turned the ball over 17 times.
New York jumped out to a commanding 10-point advantage (14-4) with 15:24 left in the first half after the Violets nailed their first four attempts from beyond the three-point arc. The Bears got back into the game behind the play of Klimek, who scored five-straight points to get the lead down to six at 15-9. A jumper by Palucki made it 15-11 and forced a 30-second timeout by NYU.
A lay-up by Klimek with 9:31 to play tied the score up at 17-17, the closest the Bears had been since the 18:00 mark. After another 30-second timeout by New York, Hoener gave the Bears their second lead of the game with a three-pointer and Klimek followed with a lay-up to make it 22-19.
New York held onto a 29-24 lead with 3:15 to play, before Washington U. ended the half with a 10-2 run to take the 34-31 halftime lead. Klimek led all scorers with 13 points and five rebounds, while Hoener added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. The Bears shot 46.9 percent (15-32) from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play, and had a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Washington U. continued its first-half surge by scoring 10 of the first 13 points of the second half to take a 44-34 lead with 16:04 to play. The Bears 20-5 run from the 3:15 mark of the first half to the 16:04 mark in the second half saw New York make just two field goals.
The Violets got the lead down to three (52-49) with 8:40 to play following a jumper by Yaffe, but that was close as New York would get as Washington U. put the game away with the 14-0 run.
Washington University closes out a two-game homestand against Brandeis University on Sunday, Jan. 20, at Noon. The game will be broadcast live on the Bear Sports Network.
Bear Notebook: Washington University leads the all-time series with New York, 39-12, and the Bears have won 10 of the last 11 meetings … The Bears played their first home game in 34 days … Since the 2000-01 season, Washington University is 73-12 (.859) in UAA home games … Palucki has pulled down eight or more rebounds in 12 of 15 games … Klimek has scored in double figures in 12 games, while Aboona has scored in double figures 11 times … Washington U. has won 94 of its last 100 games when leading at the half.