Box Score

NEW YORK – Rutgers University-Newark junior forward Jordan McDaniel poured in a game-high 28 points, but New York University dominated play in the paint for an 81-70 win in the ECAC Metro Championship semifinals in Brooklyn College's West Quad Center.
 
The Scarlet Raiders (19-10) battled on even terms with the Violets (19-8) during the opening 20 minutes and trailed just 38-35 at the break after a buzzer-beating 3-point jumper by junior guard Vik Singh.
 
NYU pounded the ball inside to open the second half and ignite a decisive 14-2 run keyed by six points by junior forward Evan Kupferberg who finished with 21 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
 
Senior swingman Christian Garcia tallied 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals in his final game in Scarlet & Black.  He finishes his career at No. 3 on the Raiders' all-time scoring list with 1,463 points while adding 650 rebounds, 251 assists and 123 steals.
 
Singh scored all 11 of his points in the opening half when he connected on all three of his shots from beyond the arc.  McDaniel netted 18 points in the second half and finished with six rebounds, three assists and two steals.  The 28 points equalled his career high set earlier this season.
 
Senior forward Elvis Hodzic hauled down double-digit rebounds for the second game in a row in the ECAC playoffs to post with 10 while adding six points, three assists and game highs of four steals and three blocked shots.  Senior guard Chris Foreman knocked down a pair of treys for six points while senior guard Doze Ikuwegbu dished off a team-high seven assists.
 
NYU muscled the ball inside to become just the second team this season to shoot better than 50% against the Raiders.  The Violets connected on 30-57 (52.6%) shots overall, scoring 48 points in the paint while controlling the rebounding, 46-28.
 
Violet junior forward Patrick Burns totaled 16 points and eight rebounds while junior center Costis Gontikas added nine points and nine rebounds.  On the perimeter, guards Hakeem Harris and Ross Udine added 18 and 10 points, respectively, with Udine dishing out a game-high 10 assists.
 
Rutgers-Newark caps its season with 19 wins and semifinal berths in both the New Jersey Athletic Conference and ECAC Metro championships.  It is the 11^th season in a row in which the Raiders have posted a winning regular season followed by post-season play.  Rutgers-Newark has earned nine NJAC playoff berths, nine ECAC invitational and two NCAA D-III Championship at-large berths during that span under 14^th-year head coach Joe Loughran.