YORK, PA – The NYU Violets proved why they are the top ranked team in Division III as they held off a veteran York College squad 62-52 in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Wolf Gym on Saturday night.
The Spartans entered the game riding a 12-game home win streak as they have been averaging 77 points per game at Wolf Gymnasium. Both defenses were outstanding as York was held to a season-low 52 points while NYU had their second-lowest scoring total of the year.
The Violets improve to 26-1 as they have won 14 straight and are now 11-0 on the road. The Spartans see their outstanding season come to an end with a mark of 22-7.
 
How It Happened
• York opened the scoring with a Kai Cipalla three 39 seconds into the game but then the offensive sledding got tough with the Violet defense cracking down on the Spartans. NYU went on a sustained 11-0 run as York went 0-for-7 from the field during the almost seven-minute scoring drought. The Spartans got their feet underneath them and put together a 7-2 run, slicing the Violet lead to 13-10.
• NYU again answered as they scored 10 of the next 15 points of the game to take a 23-15 lead with 2:12 left in the half. York was able to get four points to end the half as they trailed 26-19 at the intermission.
• The two defenses were outstanding in the first half. York shot just 25% in the first half while NYU was only a shade better at 33.3%.
• York started the second half on a quick 7-3 run, trimming the Violet lead to 29-26 with just under 17 minutes left in the game. NYU started to pull away courtesy of an 11-3 run that pushed the lead to 40-29 with 13:19 left in the game. The Spartans pulled back to within nine at 42-33 on a Jackson Mascari bucket with 11:37 remaining.
• The Spartans continued to battle and used a quick 5-0 spurt to cut the lead to five at 50-45 with 5:11 left as the Wolf Gym faithful were as loud as they had been all night. Again, the NYU defense rose to the occasion as they held the Spartans to one point over the next two minutes, pushing their lead back to nine with 2:38 left.
• York had one last gasp as Tate Landis hit a pair of free throws with 1:36 left to cut York's deficit to 57-50. The Violets were able to salt the game away at the line as they hit five free throws over the final 51 seconds to earn the ten-point victory and a ticket to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
 
By The Numbers
The Spartans finished the game shooting 33.3% (17-for-51) from the floor and 5-for-23 (21.7%) from three … York went 13-for-20 (65%) from the charity stripe … the Violets shot 34.5% (19-for-55) from the field including 2-for-18 (11.1%) from three … NYU was very good at the line, converting 84.6% (22-of-26) from the free throw line … the bigger Violets out-rebounded the Spartans 39-34 including 11-9 in offensive rebounds … York had 13 turnovers which NYU turned into 12 points while the Violets nine turnovers only cost them seven points … York's largest lead was three while NYU's largest advantage was 12 at 45-33 with 11 minutes left in the game … Tristan How led the way for NYU with 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals … Jack Stone was the other Violet in double figures with 11 points, five rebounds, and two assists … Emmanuel Onuama led NYU on the boards with 11 caroms while he also had five points … Brock Susko chipped in with six points, five rebounds, and five steals.
 
Spartan Notes
The meeting between NYU and York was the first meeting in program history … the Spartans are now 8-9 all-time in the NCAA Tournament … the Spartans have made it to the second round in all four of their appearances under head coach Matt Hunter … the Spartans held NYU to their second lowest point total of the year (61 at University of Chicago on February 7) … NYU came into the game averaging 82.6 points per game … the Violets finished the game shooting a season-low 34.5% from the field while York also limited NYU to a season-low two made three point field goal … Kai Cipalla closed out his fantastic Spartan career with a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year … Cipalla finished his career with 1,444 points in 80 career games in the Green and White … he finished 11^th on the all-time scoring list and fourth in career points per game at 18.1 points per game … senior Jackson Mascari also had 15 points with four rebounds, two steals and an assist … Mascari finished his career with 1,098 points and 672 rebounds as he ranks 24^th on the all-time scoring list … junior Jayden Rowe chipped in with nine points, three rebounds and an assist … senior Chris Miers concluded his career with seven points, three rebounds and a blocked shot … Miers ended his career with 1,034 points as he is 27^th on the all-time scoring list for the Spartans.
 
Up Next
The game closes out the career of seniors Kai Cipalla, Jackson Mascari, Chris Miers and Jaylen Mills. The foursome finished the year with 22 wins which is the seventh 20-plus win season in school history.

MBB Post Game with Head Coach Matt Hunter
MBB Post Game with Kai Cipalla, Chris Miers and Jackson Mascari