New York, NY – Junior guard Rocco Rubino (Brooklyn, NY/Archbishop Molloy) tied a game high 18 points, but his efforts would not be enough as the Hawks closed out 2009 with a tough 85-69 loss at home to New York University Wednesday night at the Hunter Sportsplex.

New York University jumped out to a quick 14-3 lead as the Hawks struggled to hold onto the ball for the first three minutes of the game. The Violets would end up extending their lead to 18 points following a jumper by senior forward Keith Jensen which gave his team a 30-12 lead with 9:55 left in the half.

At this point, the Hawks began using a full court press that would force the Violets to commit five turnovers that resulted in nine Hawks points including a slam by junior guard Maxwell Dubois (Hollywood, FL/Dillard) that would cap off a 17-5 run and cut the lead to just six points with 4:56 left on the clock.

NYU sophomore center Andy Stein that scored five quick points to push the lead up to ten which is where it stood heading into the intermission. Jensen was the game's leading scorer at the half with 14 points, while Rubino led the Hawks with 11.

The Hawks opened up the second half just as cold as they did the first, not scoring their first basket until 16:09 when Rubino cut an increasing NYU lead to 15 points (49-34). Hunter would later cut the lead to 11 points, but that was as close as they got to a NYU team that controlled the game from the tip.

Jensen would end up as one of three Violets to finish with a game high 18 points, followed by freshman forward Carl Yaffe and junior center Richie Polan. Stein recorded the game's only double-double with 15 points and ten rebounds, all defensive.

For Hunter, Dubois finished with 17 points and team high nine rebounds, while freshman guard Eric Klingsberg (Queens, NY/Holy Cross) added 14 points and sophomore guard Mark Courtien (Pelham, NY, Pelham Memorial) had 12.

Hunter now falls to 5-5 on the year, while NYU improves its season record to 6-2. Hunter will now head to Scranton, Pensylvania where they will face the Royals in the opening round of the PNC Bank Holiday Invitational on Saturday, January 2, 2010.