Box Score
Keith Jensen scored a season-high 22 points, including an old-fashioned, three-point play with 1:24 remaining to power the New York University men's basketball team to a 59-57 victory over University Athletic Association (UAA) rival Carnegie Mellon University on Friday night at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center.
Jensen netted 17 of his tallies in the final 20 minutes, including a rare four-point play that gave the Violets (12-5, 3-3 UAA) their first lead of the second half, 46-45, with 9:44 remaining. After the teams traded leads three times, NYU's senior sharpshooter provided the final points of this tightly played contest.
"Keith obviously has a lot of confidence and is looking to make plays in a big spot," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "That four-point play really energized us and that three-point play was big."
However, the Tartans (4-13, 0-6 UAA) had a couple of chances to either forge a tie or take the lead, the last coming when Jack Anderson (16 points, 8 rebounds) missed a three-pointer that Richie Polan rebounded with 5.3 seconds remaining. Polan missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Omar Meziab grabbed the loose-ball rebound and was fouled with 0.4 ticks to go.
Meziab also missed the front end of his one-and-one. Although Carnegie Mellon collected the rebound, its desperation, full-court heave came up well short.
Carnegie Mellon left the floor after 20 minutes with a 32-26 lead as the trio of Anderson, John Duhring (10 points, 7 boards) and Christian Shepley (12 points) combined for 22 points. They also helped the Tartans knock down 45.2% of their shots (14-for-31) while the Violets endured one of their roughest first halves this season (9-for-24, 37.5%).
Overall, NYU shot 39.6% from the field (21-for-53), including 7-for-24 (29.2%) on its three-point attempts, while going 10-for-17 at the charity stripe (58.8%). Kyle Stockmal and Andy Stein each poured in 11 points, with Stein also grabbing seven rebounds.
Shane Rife finished with 10 points and six rebounds for Carnegie Mellon, which hit 40.4% of its shots (21-for-52), went 5-for-16 (31.3%) from long range and 10-for-13 (76.9%) at the foul line.
NYU will end its four-game homestand this Sunday, Jan. 31, when it tips off at noon against Case Western Reserve University.