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Men's Basketball Surges Past Denison, 72-51, in NYU Holiday Tournament

12/29/07

Sophomore forward Keith Jensen netted a game-high 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including 14 in the second half as the New York University men's basketball team pulled away from Denison University for a 72-51 victory in the first round of the NYU Holiday Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Jerome S. Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

Sophomore forward Zachary Kuba tallied 13 points, while senior guard Charlie Parker added 10 points and five boards as the Violets (4-2) owned a 43-30 edge on the glass en route to winning their third straight game.

Meanwhile, senior center Michael Magee played perhaps his most complete game in an NYU uniform, finishing with eight points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

No player reached double digits for Denison (0-9), which got nine points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench from Brian Elder. Eberst added eight points in the loss.

The Violets will face the winner of Saturday's other first-round game, Drew University, for the NYU Holiday Tournament championship on Sunday, Dec. 30, at 3 p.m. Denison will face John Jay College, a 64-53 loser to Drew, in the third-place contest at 1 p.m.

Everything finally came together for NYU midway through the second half. With the game tied at 38-38, the Violets went on a 16-0 run started by three consecutive short jumpers from the hand of sophomore guard Omar Meziab (9 points). NYU held the Big Red without a point for 7:13 during the decisive surge and held the opposition to 30.4% (17-for-56) shooting overall, including just 20.0% (5-for-25) over the final 20 minutes.

Overall, NYU shot 47.3% (26-for-55), including a blistering 55.2% (16-for-29) after intermission.

"Defensively, we got ourselves in gear in the second half," NYU head coach Joe Nesci said. "We wound up making some shots, but the key was that our guys did a great job of pressuring the ball and contesting shots."

The first half featured plenty of back-and-forth play before Kuba poured in five of his 12 first-half points to power a 10-0 spurt that gave the Violets a 21-14 advantage 8:38 before the break. However, the Big Red responded with a 14-6 surge, including eight points from Chris Eberst, to take a 30-29 lead into the locker room.