The New York University men's basketball team defeated Manhattanville College 89-63 on Saturday afternoon, November 22, in the consolation game of the 17th Annual Manhattanville College Classic at the Kennedy Gymnasium in Purchase, NY.

The Violets (2-2) came away with the dominant 23-point victory on Saturday behind All-Tournament selection Evan Kupferberg. The junior forward led all players in both points (27) and rebounds (12) for his third-straight double-double of the season, and the 12th of his career. He also grabbed two steals.

"Evan just had a great offensive and defensive weekend with two great games back-to-back and really stepped up for us," said NYU Head Coach Joe Nesci.

NYU jumped out to an 18-point lead over the Valients (1-4) after the first half. Manhattanville trimmed the Violets lead to 10 at 54-44 with 12:31 remaining in the second, but NYU broke out on a 9-0 run to grab a hold of the momentum for the remainder of the contest.

"I thought the best thing about the game for us was that we withstood their run in the middle of the second half," said Nesci. "It was great to see us stay composed, execute, make plays, and then reassert ourselves and once again establish control of the game."

Overall, the Violets controlled the paint both offensively and defensively. NYU outrebounded the Valiants 43-21 and held them to just one offensive rebound. The Violets also outscored Manhattanville 54-30 in the paint and capitalized on second chance points – NYU held the 21-3 advantage in that category.

"It was a real workman-like effort – our guys were determined and focused – and I thought that from the opening tip our energy, effort, concentration, and physicality was just really solid," continued Nesci. "Manhattanville had one offensive rebound for the game, so that speaks to our rebounding efforts."

HIGHLIGHTS:

- NYU finished on the positive side of the assist-turnover ratio, notching 20 assists and 14 turnovers as a team.

- Costis Gontikas finished with 16 points and seven rebounds.

- Patrick Burns notched his first-career double-double, pulling down 10 rebounds and scoring 12 points.

- Iyoha Agho chipped in 10 points and four assists.

- Ross Udine tallied a game-high nine assists along with seven points.

- Joe Timmes also scored nine points.

"I'm excited about how we played even though we're undermanned without Max," said Nesci. "I thought the guys stepped up and I think they're going to continue to step up going forward."

The Violets will return to the court when they travel to North Adams, MA, on Saturday, November 29, to face the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 pm and live video and live stats will be available.