The New York University men's basketball team emerged victorious in the championship game of the 2013 NYU Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday afternoon, November 17, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan. The Violets defeated Morrisville State College 80-63.

Leading NYU to victory was Tournament MVP and senior co-captain guard Ryan Tana. Tana, who scored 13 points with five assits in the first-round win over Drew University, poured in 19 points and added nine assists against the Mustangs on Sunday. The Belmont, CA, native now joins the likes of former Violets Carl Yaffe and Andy Stein as winners of the award.

Helping Tana en route to NYU's fourth consecutive tournament title were sopohmores guard Max Ralby and forward Evan Kupferberg -- both named to the All-Tournament squad.

Ralby was consistent on both ends of the floor all weekend, pulling down eight boards (all defensive) with five points, six assists, and a steal against Drew on Saturday. He followed that up by scoring seven points with six rebounds (all defensive), six assits, and two steals in the title game against Morrisville State.

Kupferberg dominated in the first round against the Rangers as well, recording his first-career double-double with 19 points and 10 boards. He continued his strong play on Sunday with 10 points and nine rebounds against the Mustangs.

Rounding out the All-Tournament team were Jordan Prior from runner-up Morrisville State, Mike Klinger from third-place Drew, and Neil Randolph from Elmira College.

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Junior forward Adam Xu was a key factor in the Violets title victory, sinking 5-of-8 from beyond the arc to total 15 points in addition to five rebounds.

- Freshman forward Romas Marcinkevicius scored 10 points in his second game as a collegian.

- Morrisville's Prior (12 points and six assists) saw his teammate Tom Wilk score 18 points as well.

"Max obviously was a big part of our success this weekend -- taking care of the ball and distributing it, while doing a really solid defensive job and rebounding from the guard spot," said Head Coach Joe Nesci. "Ryan's leadership, his vocal leadership, the way he plays and the confidence that he instills in his teammates, was also a big plus to this weekend's success."

The Violets will be back in action next weekend, Saturday, November 23, when they host the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Tip-off at Coles is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with live stats and video available at gonyuathletics.com.