Behind a stifling defense and timely shooting, NYU Law defeated Columbia Law School 55-45 in the ninth annual Deans' Cup on April 15. The annual co-ed basketball game, played between students at the two law schools, is the largest student-run law school event in the country. The 2010 game raised $45,000 for public interest law organizations at the two campuses.
NYU Law started fast, and lead by as many as 12 points in the first half. Mark Duric '12 paced the team with 12 first-half points, while center Joseph Tillman '12 and Laura Miller '10 added six and four points, respectively. Large leads have traditionally been tenuous in the series, and, in keeping with that tradition, Columbia stormed back in the second half. With six minutes to play, Columbia completed a spirited comeback, tying the game 43-43.
The tie was short-lived. NYU Law went on a 12-2 run to finish the game, including eight more points from Duric, who finished with a team-high 20 points. “I was able to penetrate and had some steals that led to breakaways,” Duric said after the game. “I think as a team we were tough on defense and that led to some easy points.” Point guard Patrick Armstrong '11 was the team’s second-leading scorer with nine points, including a pair of clutch free throws to seal the game with under a minute remaining.
At halftime, the two schools' faculty faced off. Columbia's team ran their winning streak to five consecutive years with an 8-7 win. Anthony Barkow, executive director for the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, was the game’s leading scorer, providing all seven of the NYU Law faculty's points. "The game is part of the vital effort to ensure that today's students can carry on the great tradition of pursuing careers in the public interest,” Barkow said. “It is also a fun way for the students to see their faculty—this year, Professors Richard Epstein, Samuel Rascoff, and Oren Bar-Gill—in a different setting, providing them with halftime entertainment."
Following the game, lead sponsor Dewey & LeBoeuf presented NYU Law and Dean Richard Revesz with the Deans’ Cup Trophy, which will return to Washington Square for the sixth time in the event’s nine-year history. “It was a great experience for me to represent NYU and to bring the cup home again for Dean Revesz,” said Duric. “We had a group of great players and I was honored to take the court with them.”
Posted April 21, 2010