From NYU Athletics
The New York University men's basketball team defeated Brandeis University 90-82 in both team's University Athletic Association (UAA) opener on Saturday, January 6, at the Sportsplex in Manhattan.
Jimmy Martinelli scored 18 points to lead five Violets in double-figures as NYU improved to 7-3 on the season, while the Judges dropped to 4-7 overall.
"It feels good to win the first one," said Assistant Coach Taylor Roth. "We had a really good plan and the guys executed it well today."
Martinelli opened the game with a pair of three-pointers to put NYU ahead 6-0, but the Judges answered with a 12-4 run to take a two point lead with 13:43 remaining in the first half.
Another triple from Martinelli at the 6:53 mark put the Violets back in front 28-26 and the hosts never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.
The Violets led 39-34 at halftime and extended their lead to as many as 14 on a Jule Brown layup with just under five minutes to play in the contest.
Brandeis cut the margin to just four, 82-78, with 1:15 on the clock, but NYU was able to knock down free throws and get stops on defense to clinch the UAA victory.
"We did a good job of staying in the moment there," added Roth. "We were very unselfish down the stretch and it helped."
Chandler Jones and Colin Sawyer each scored 14 points to pace the Judges.
NOTABLES:
- Dom Cristiano recorded his sixth-straight double-double (14 points, game-high 15 rebounds). Cristiano has scored in double figures in all 10 games this season.
- Ross Udine scored 16 points, all of which came after halftime. Udine also dished out five assists, which tied teammate Jule Brown for the team lead.
- Brown had one of his more productive games in an NYU uniform, scoring a season-high 13 points and grabbing five boards to go along with his five helpers.
"It was great to see Jule have a solid game on both ends of the floor," explained Roth. "We know he's capable of doing that night in and night out."
- Douglas Gertner was very efficient, as well. The junior drained all seven of his free-throw attempts and scored 12 points, while grabbing five rebounds. Gertner is shooting a UAA-best 94.5% (33-for-35) from the charity stripe this season.
- The Judges and Violets split their annual two-game series six times in the last eight seasons. Last year, Brandeis won both matchups.