The New York University men’s basketball team began their NCAA Tournament campaign with a 65-53 victory over Gettysburg University on Friday in Middletown, Connecticut.
NYU, which reached the National Championship Game last season, improved its record to 18-8. The team will play either Wesleyan University or Lehman College in the second round at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday.
In Friday’s game, NYU fell behind early but responded with a 14-0 run after trailing 7-6, taking control of the contest for the remainder of the night. The Violets led by 14 points at halftime and maintained a double-digit advantage through much of the second half. Gettysburg (18-10) narrowed the gap to seven points late in the game before NYU pulled away again.
Head Coach Waleed Farid commented on his team’s performance: “We knew it was going to be a tough game against a really good team. I thought we set the tone with our defense. It got a little close there towards the end, but our guys showed a lot of poise.”
Darren Rubin led all scorers with 24 points, shooting 9-of-13 from the field. He also contributed six rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and one block. Rubin said: “I’m really lucky to play with teammates who trust me to go play my game when I’m hot like that. Coach lets me do that too, so it was really a lot of fun out there.”
Other contributors included Bryan Moussako with nine points and Luke Kolaja with eight points. Carnegie Johnson secured nine rebounds for NYU.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s matchup, Farid said: “We’re just going to try and get some rest, find out who we’re playing and then start preparing for another tough test tomorrow.”