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Men's Basketball Downs Framingham State for 61-53 Win in Opener

11/17/07

In his first collegiate start, sophomore guard Omar Meziab poured in a career-high 17 points as the New York University men's basketball team overcame a sluggish start to down Framingham State College 61-53 in the first round of the NYU Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday afternoon in Manhattan.

Meziab went 9-10 from the charity stripe and was one of three starters in double digits who recorded career highs for the Violets. Sophomore Keith Jensen, also making his first start, finished with 12 points and six rebounds, while sophomore forward Zachary Kuba finished with 11 points and four assists.

Josue Almodovar led Framingham State with 17 points, while Rob Scarpato tallied 15 for the Rams.

NYU will face the winner of the other first-round game between Rensselaar Polytechnic Institute and SUNY Geneseo for the championship Sunday, Nov. 18, at 3 pm. Framingham will play the RPI-Geneseo loser in the third-place contest at 1 pm.

NYU trailed for most of the first half, going down 8-2 at the outset, but took a 20-18 lead into the locker room. A 9-2 spurt powered by four different scorers gave the Violets a 39-30 lead with 12:00 remaining after Meziab buried a pair of free throws.

"We missed our shots early and I thought we pressed a little bit," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "Defensively, we started focusing and didn't let our shooting effect us."

Framingham State pulled within 45-42 after a pair of free throws by Scarpato with 6:40 remaining, but the Violets rode another 9-2 spurt to a 54-44 lead with 3:21 remaining that effectively put the game out of reach. Kuba canned a pair of three-pointers and Meziab also hit a long-distance shot to spark the burst.

"Omar did a good job," Nesci said. "He step up and made some big shots. I also thought his defense was solid today."

Senior center Michael Magee snared a career-high 10 rebounds for NYU, while senior guard Charlie Parker scored all nine of his points off three-point shots.

Royce Veal finished with seven points for the Rams.

NYU shot 35.2% (19-54), while Framingham State converted 37.5% (18-48) of its shots. Each team grabbed 36 rebounds.