NEW YORK, NY – Host NYU closed the game on a 7-3 run to grab a 76-73 win over Johns Hopkins Friday night at the New York City Collegiate Classic. The Blue Jays suffer their first loss of the season as they fall to 2-1, while the Violets improve to 2-0.
Evan Rainville hit a layup to put Hopkins up 71-70 with 2:27 to play, but the lead lasted just 31 seconds as Alex McCleery Brown put NYU back on top with a jumper.
Wyatt Eglinton Manner answered with a bucket in the paint to put the Blue Jays up 73-72 with 1:31 on the clock. Carnegie Johnson grabbed the lead back for the Violets with 47 seconds to play and then added a pair of free throws 21 seconds later to seal a 76-73 win for the home team.
The first 15 minutes were a back-and-forth affair, and the teams were tied at 32 after a Bryan Moussako layup.
Nasir Luna answered with a layup to spark a 14-5 run to end the half.
Amr Areikat beat the buzzer with a triple to send Hopkins into the half with a 46-37 lead.
Jonas Sujeta then opened the half with a trey to push the Blue Jays' lead to 12 just 12 seconds in.
Johnson halted the run with a layup to ignite a 22-4 run that spanned more than five minutes and saw NYU go up 59-53. Six Violets combined for the 22 points, led by a Johnson (six) and McCleery Brown (seven). Chase Garcia punctuated the run with a layup with 14:05 to play in the half. Areikat trimmed the deficit back to three with a three-point play at 12:37, but NYU answered with six straight points to push out to a nine-point lead.
Eglinton Manner then hit a trey to kick-start a 13-4 Blue Jay run that saw the visitors tie the game on an Areikat three at 3:31. Tristan Joseph swung the lead back to NYU with one of two free throws at 2:43 before Rainville's layup put JHU up 71-70 with 2:27 to play.
Sujeta led the Blue Jays with 20 points while Eglinton Manner added 19 points, three assists and two steals. Areikat scored 14 points and
Logan Feller had a team-best seven rebounds. Johnson led the Violets with 20 points and a game-high six assists. McCleery Brown nearly had a double double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Joshua Hopson also finished in double figures with 11 points and eight boards.
Hopkins returns to action at the Classic against 14
th-ranked Tufts at 1:00 pm.
