The New York University men's basketball team suffered a tough 68-65 loss to The Sage Colleges on Friday night, November 21, in the first round of the 2014 AJ Buchanan Classic, hosted by Manhattanville College at the Kennedy Gym in Purchase, NY.

"I was very impressed with the Sage team, their talent and how hard they played," said NYU Head Coach Joe Nesci. "It was a great early-season test for us."

The Violets (2-1) were down 40-31 at the half and eventually found themselves trailing the Gators (2-0) by 13 points with 16:33 remaining in the contest. NYU, led by junior big men Evan Kupferberg and Costis Gontikas, stormed back throughout the second half to trim the lead to one at 64-63 with 2:09 left and again at 66-65 with 50 seconds left.

"I thought they really stayed in it – no clichés," said Nesci. "We got down 13 points and cut the lead back to one and were right there at the end. I thought our guys really responded. They're intensity was super high for 40 minutes."

HIGHLIGHTS:

- Gontikas led all scorers with a season-high 21 points. He also notched his first double-double of the season, the third of his career with 10 rebounds. Gontias added a game-high three blocks.

- Kupferberg recorded his second-straight double-double of the season, and 11th of his career by scoring 17 points and pulling down a game-best 16 rebounds. He also notched two blocks.

- Joe Timmes chipped in eight points and was 2-of-4 from beyond the arc.

- Ross Udine and Iyoha Agho each contributed six points apiece. Udine added eight assists and two steals.

"I just thought it was a really good effort by us and we just came up a little short," said Nesci. "I think if we continue to play with that intensity and play at that level, we'll win our share of games."

NYU will return to the court tomorrow, Saturday, November 22, at 2:00 pm for the consolation game of the AJ Buchanan Classic. The Violets will meet the winner of the Manhattanville College-Brooklyn College match-up later on Friday night. Live stats will be available.