ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 18 Washington University in St. Louis men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaker at the buzzer on Friday evening, falling to NYU 77-76. The Bears are now 11-4 on the year with a 1-3 mark in UAA play.
Sophomore
Connor May scored 18 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists. Junior
Ryan Cohen netted 11 points to go with six rebounds and senior
Calvin Kapral scored 11 points and had four boards. Senior
Yogi Oliff had seven points and handed out a career-high nine assists.
After the Violets scored the first bucket of the game, Cohen drained a 3-pointer. NYU hit a 3-pointer but Kapral followed with a 3-pointer from the corner for a 6-5 WashU lead at 18:04. Sophomore
Anthony Przybilla drilled another shot from distance to extend WashU's lead to four points, 9-5.
The game would be tied at 11, 13 and 16 before the Bears created some distance. First-year
Josh Kim hit his second-straight 3-pointer and junior
George Gale put in a layup. Following his own steal, first-year
Theo Rocca hit his first 3-pointer and followed that with another just 30 seconds later to put WashU up by double-digits, 27-16 midway through the first half.
After the Violets cut it down to seven, May and Oliff hit back-to-back 3-pointers for a 37-24 lead with 6:04 remaining in the first half.
NYU went on a 10-0 run to cut the Bears' lead to three points, 37-34, with 1:41 on the clock. Senior
Will Grudzinski hit a 3-pointer and NYU closed out the half with a layup, sending the Bears' into the break with a 40-36 edge.
Out of halftime, the Bears scored the first seven points starting with a layup from Kapral, followed by a 3-pointer from Cohen and a layup from Oliff for a 47-36 edge at 17:49.
WashU held onto a double-digit lead until 12:59 when NYU's Darren Rubin, who finished with 28 points, hit a pair of free throws. He followed with a steal and a layup for a seven-point, 49-56 game at 11:51.
Following a bucket from junior
Jake Davis, NYU scored eight-straight points to make it a one-point, 58-57 game with just under nine minutes to play.
Up one point with 7:07 remaining, the Bears put in six points on a layup from Kapral, a jumper from May and a layup from Cohen, extending their lead to seven points, 67-60.
The Bears continued to hold a several-point lead, up by five points with 30 seconds left. NYU scored five-straight to tie the game at 74 with 19 seconds left.
May hit a layup to lead by two points with four seconds on the clock but Rubin brought the ball down and a hit a buzzer 3-pointer to secure the win for the Violets.
The Bears shot 29-for-64 (45.3%) and 13-for-34 (38.2%) from 3-point range. The Bears had the edge on the boards, 36-33.
WashU is back home on Sunday at 4 p.m. against Brandeis. Due to the expected impact on travel by the incoming winter storm in the St. Louis area this weekend, only authorized and essential personnel will be permitted at the women's and men's basketball games on Sunday afternoon against Brandeis.
No fans will be permitted into the game, however you can watch the games live, featuring play-by-play from
Jay Murry, on
FloSports and follow stats
HERE.
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Elevating scholar-champions requires resources beyond the institutional budget. Through the W Club, generous alumni, parents, and friends provide unrestricted support that is essential to the extraordinary WashU student-athlete experience—and the ongoing growth and development of the department. Annual support for Athletics allows the Bears to consistently rise to national levels of competition and ensures that our student-athletes enjoy exceptional opportunities as they train, compete, and lead. To make a gift to the Annual Fund for Athletics, please visit our secure online giving form or contact the Athletics Advancement Office at athletics@wustl.edu.
