MANHATTAN – Despite an 18-point night for senior guard Julien Person (Paris, France/Second Baptist, Texas), the Case Western Reserve University men's basketball team suffered a 94-73 loss to New York University in Friday University Athletic Association action at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center.

The Spartans (14-7, 5-5 UAA) have now lost three in a row and slip into a tie for third place in the conference. The Violets (15-6, 6-4 UAA) remain tied for second.

Person was one of four Spartans in double-figures, including senior forward Brian Klements (Willoughby Hills, Ohio/Willoughby South) with 15 and freshman forward Eric Black (Avon Lake, Ohio/Saint Ignatius) with 12.  

The Violets shot .576 for the game and held a 54-26 advantage in points in the paint. Hakeem Harris led the charge with a game-high 32 points on 13-of-18 shooting from the field. Evan Kupferberg and Patrick Burns each added 15 points, while Kupferberg posted 11 rebounds.

NYU was red hot right out of the gate, hitting 11 of its first 14 shots in building a 24-8 lead as Harris scored a layup at the 11:34 mark. The next eight minutes saw the Spartans chip away at the deficit, and a 10-0 run ending with a Klements layup pulled the score to 32-29 with 3:47 on the clock. From there, the Violets scored seven of the final 12 in the half to take a 39-34 advantage into the locker room.

Early in the second, the Spartans closed the gap to 41-40 when Klements nailed a three-pointer with 18:50 remaining. Later with the score at 47-44, NYU created some breathing room with an 11-4 run which ended in a Kupferberg layup that pushed the home lead to 58-48. Then with the count at 66-57, the Violets blew the game wide open with a 17-5 run.

The Spartans wrap up the road portion of the 2014-15 schedule at Brandeis University this Sunday, February 15. Tip-off from Red Auerbach Arena in Waltham, Massachusetts is set for 12:00 p.m.