Road Win For Men's Basketball At NYU

The Wells College men's basketball team returned to action and earned an 82-75 victory at New York University on Tuesday, Jan. 3 at NYU's Sportsplex in Manhattan, N.Y. The Express trailed by seven points at halftime, but outscored the Violets 48-34 in the second half.

Three Wells players scored in double figures. Rich Ross led Wells with 33 points and made eight 3-pointers. Forwards Vaughndell Brantley and James Feocco also scored in double figures as Brantley had 21 points and Feocco scored 11.

It was the second time this season that Ross scored more than 30 points, following a career-high 34-point night in a victory at Cazenovia on Nov. 30. Me made eight 3-pointers, which is the second-best single-game total in program history, as E.J. Taylor made nine in a January 2013 game at Keuka.

NYU led by 13 points with about seven minutes remaining in the first half, but Wells scored eight points in a row to reduce the deficit to single digits. The Express trailed 41-34 at halftime. Ross scored the last 11 points of the first half for Wells.

In the second half,  NYU hit on its first field-goal attempt to take a 43-34 lead, but the Express responded with the next 10 points to take a 44-43 advantage. It was the first lead of the game for Wells since holding a 15-12 lead in the game's first five minutes.

Wells trailed 63-59 with under 10 minutes remaining, and went on a 19-6 run over the next eight minutes to take a 78-69 lead. It was the largest lead of the contest for Wells, and the Express closed out the game by making four of six free throws to complete the victory.

Anthony Nesci and Chris Courtney each had three assists. David Dames led Wells with eight rebounds. The Express committed just seven turnovers.

Wells outscored NYU 19-7 at the free-throw line.

It was the second-ever meeting between Wells and NYU, as NYU won by an 89-67 score in January of 2016 in Aurora.

Wells returns to North Eastern Athletic Conference play on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Morrisville State College. Wells and Morrisville are tied atop the NEAC North Division with 3-0 conference records.