The NYU men's basketball team's five-game winning streak came to a halt Friday as the Violets suffered a heartbreaking two-point loss (70-68) to the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans in front of nearly 2,000 fans at the Coles Sports Center.
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NYU got off to a sluggish start, struggling defensively as Carnegie Mellon shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first half, which featured a 21-5 run by the Tartans.
"Carnegie played harder than us," said head coach Joe Nesci, who became the winningest coach in the program's history last month. "We were able to make a run at the end of the game, but it was too late."
Co-captain Andy Stein led the way for NYU with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven blocks — one shy of the school record.
"Carnegie was the tougher team on Friday," co-captain Kyle Stockmal said, echoing the sentiments of his coach. "We need to try and be tougher and better defensively."
This emphasis on defense has been pivotal to NYU's 15-2 record this season.
The Violets rebounded yesterday, however, with an 89-80 victory over Case Western Reserve University.
NYU scored the first basket of the game and never looked back, maintaining the lead the rest of the way.
"The key today was defense early," Nesci said. The Violets held the Spartans to only 12 points in the first 10 minutes of the game.
NYU's success on offense came from good ball movement. Their unselfish play led to 27 assists, allowing for NYU's 10 of 16 (62.5 percent) shooting from beyond the arc.
Three of these three-pointers came from Stockmal, who leads the team with 41 three-pointers this season.
"I was very confident after last weekend, and I shot the ball well this weekend after hard work in practice," he said.
The University Athletic Association honored Stockmal with the player of the week award for shooting 12 for 14 from beyond the arc in two games last weekend. On Sunday, Stockmal added 13 points, six assists and three steals to his string of strong performances.
Three other Violets also scored in double figures. Stein led the team with 25 points, sophomore guard Ryan Tana scored 13 and junior forward Max Wein contributed 11.
NYU's sole weakness was rebounding, as Case Western grabbed 40 rebounds to the Violets' 27.
Nesci again said his team has to play strong defense to ensure success in the future.
"Defense is the key to our team," he said.
The Violets will have a chance to avenge last week's loss against Carnegie Mellon when they travel to Pittsburgh on Friday, Feb. 3 for a rematch with the Tartans.
