Release courtesy of NYU Athletics

New York University's men's basketball team broke the program's single-game scoring record with 138 points in a 138-92 victory over Hunter College at the Brooklyn Athletic Facility on Saturday afternoon. This marks the second consecutive season that the Violets have snapped the scoring record against Hunter, posting 123 points exactly one year ago today.

NYU's 138 points are the fifth-most in a single game in Division III this year while its 74 second-half points set a program record for the most points scored in a half. The 230 combined points from both teams also established a new high-water mark for the program.

The Violets, who remain undefeated (9-0) in 2022-23 with the win, were led by Cinque Stephens' career-high 33 points. Stephens has now scored a career high in back-to-back games after a 27-point outburst at York College this past Wednesday.

"It's always great to set records but stats are a funny thing, because in this game we broke a record but it was not our most efficient game," said Head Coach Dave Klatsky. "It's nice for our guys to get points, everybody likes points, but I want wins.

"Cinque Stephens, I can't say enough about him. He's just providing a much-needed spark for this team right now, playing so confident, so aggressive and so smart. We had a feeling this would be his type of game...he needed to find that balance between using his speed and athleticism and finding that pace where he can slow down and score in a different way. I thought he did that well in the second half."

Despite the lopsided outcome, this one was neck-and-neck throughout the first half. NYU took its first double-digit lead, 22-11, on Quinn Clark's layup six minutes in, but Hunter stuck around and eventually came within one, 35-34, after a four-point play from Devon Matthews with 8:41 on the clock.

The Hawks were able to tie the score four times during the remainder of the first half, but were unable to take the lead as NYU went up by nine, 64-55, with four seconds left after an and-one from Nikola Lipovic. However, Hunter's Jared Brown converted a long-range heave at the buzzer to make it a six-point game (64-58) at the break.

NYU adjusted at halftime and opened the second on a 17-6 run, featuring seven points from Stephens, to break the game open and didn't look back from there.

"We talked before the game about how it would be a 40-minute game and there would be a lot of runs just because of extra possessions," Klatsky added. "At halftime I said this to the team, and it was probably me who needed it the most, but I just had everybody take a deep breath. That game just speeds everything up and I thought we just needed to slow down and do what we do. As you can see, thankfully it was a 40-minute game because in the second half it wasn't close."

Stephens shot 12-of-18 from the field, 2-of-6 from deep and 7-of-8 from the stripe for his career-high 33 points. The junior added six rebounds, a career-high five steals and two assists in 22 minutes of action.

Clark, a rookie, posted a season-high 22 points (9-of-12 FG) with nine boards, a steal, a block, and an assist. 

Michael Savarino notched the first double-double of his career, finishing with 15 points, a career-high 12 rebounds and five assists. It was the first double-digit rebounding output of his collegiate career.

Hayden Peek aided the scoring frenzy with a career-high 17 points (6-of-9 FG), along with three boards and a steal. Zay Freeney chipped in 16 points and four assists while Spencer Freedman totaled 14 points (4-of-5 from deep) with six assists, four rebounds and a pair of steals.

Holt Bashinsky delivered a career-high 10 rebounds with four assists and two steals in a well-rounded effort.

Rookies Matt Volkening and Aidan Clarke both secured their first collegiate points in the victory as well.

NYU shot 54.5 percent (48-of-88) from the floor, 40.5 percent (15-of-37) from distance and 90.0 percent (27-of-30) from the free-throw line. The Violets had 54 bench points, outscored Hunter 66-32 in the paint, forced 21 turnovers, scored 30 fastbreak points, and out-rebounded the Hawks 59-52.

Men's basketball has a few weeks without competition during the holidays, resuming action at Roanoke College's Cregger Invitational on December 29 and 30 in Salem, VA.