THE FACTS
New York Univ. (18-8) 65, Gettysburg (18-10) 53
What: NCAA Div. III men's basketball championship tournament first-round game
When: Friday, Mar. 6
Where: Middletown, Conn.
THE SKINNY STORY
New York University used a 14-0 run in the first half to open up a 20-7 lead midway through the stanza and kept Gettysburg at arm's length the rest of the way, notching a 65-53 win in the opening round of the NCAA Div. III men's basketball championship tournament at Wesleyan.
THE LEADERS
•
Aidan Mess (Columbia, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) led the Bullets with seven points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
•
Alex Grospe (South River, N.J./South River) recorded 11 points, four assists and two steals.
FOR THE FOES
• Darren Rubin led the Violets with 24 points, six rebounds and seven assists.
THE REST OF THE STORY
• Baskets from
Aidan Mess and
Ray Zamloot (Caldwell, N.J./James Caldwell) staked Gettysburg to a 4-0 lead in the first 70 seconds of the game. A Carnegie Jackson three-point play cut the deficit to one with 18:07 showing. Trailing 7-6, Darren Rubin scored nine straight points to spark a 14-0 run and open up a 20-7 lead with 9:45 to play in the opening half. After an Andrew Waldman 3-pointer made it 27-13, Mess hit a layup with 5:01 showing to start a 6-0 burst over just 37 seconds and close the margin to eight en route to a 35-21 deficit at the break.
• Baskets from Zamloot and
Josh Herr (Gettysburg, Pa./Gettysburg Area) in the first 2:23 of the second half made it a 10-point game. Two Bryan Moussako 3-pointers keyed a 9-4 stretch that extended the lead to 44-29 with 13:56 to play. After an
Alex Grospe triple made it a 48-38 game with 8:35 to play, Henry Bickford canned a 3-pointer and Alex Daniels hit a jumper to stretch the advantage back to 15 at the under-8 timeout. One
Reece Craft (Downingtown, Pa./Devon Prep) free throw out of the stoppage sparked a 10-2 burst that cut the deficit to single digits on a Mess trey with 4:17 remaining. NYU tallied six of the next eight points to stretch the lead back to 11 with 1:39 to play. Out of a Gettysburg timeout, Grospe drained a 3-pointer to once again make it an eight-point game at 61-53. The Violets, however, hit all four of their free throw attempts in the final 71 seconds to seal the victory.
THE INSIDE STORY
•
Reece Craft finished with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
