On Nov. 1, NYU Shanghai’s men's basketball team went up against Yale-NUS in their first ever showdown. Yale-NUS, who was flown in from Singapore a couple days before the match, brought seven of their best players along with coaches and a small posse to support their team. Over 200 NYU Shanghai and study away students came out on school-provided buses to show their support, decked out in purple clothes, face paint, and wigs- even bringing large cardboard cutouts of players’ heads. NYU Shanghai’s basketball team prepared far in advance, meeting every week for practices and conditioning. Branden Taylor, a member of the team, also reassured that “there is a lot of mental preparation that goes into playing in front of a crowd and so we worked on that as well.” The game started out strong, with Ian Soder scoring numerous three-pointers. However, Yale- NUS quickly got into their groove, catching up at the end of the first half. The game at halftime was tied 36 to 36. The Xiao Long Shakers and The Other Octaves performed for the halftime show; the former doing a pop dance followed by a stomp dance and the latter doing an acapella rendition of “For The Longest Time”. The second half remained neck and neck with NYUSH team captain Alex Brickhaus rebounding many shots and Yale-NUS starting to play more aggressively. With only five minutes to go, the score was deadlocked at NYU 57 Yale-NUS 60. The scores continued to climb, with each point scored by NYU being overtaken again by Yale. However, the climax of the game was the end. With .07 seconds left and only two points behind their competitor, NYU was fouled and given the chance to throw free throws. They were missed, but Brickhaus caught the rebound and threw a two pointer. It was a close call, but the shot was also missed, making the final score stay NYU 69 Yale 71. After the game, Co-Captains of the Yale-NUS team Zach Mahon and Subhas Nair said that the game was very exciting and a close call, with Mahon stating, “it is by far the best and most exciting win we have had this year.” They prided the NYU students who attended for making it such a great atmosphere, and a friendly place to play. They look forward to playing NYU again and seeing the students who made their visit cordial and welcoming. Taylor, despite the sadness of the loss, bolstered his sentiment that “losing is never easy, but we handled it best because we have such great fans who support us no matter what.” He went on to emphasize the importance of the match as more than just a basketball game, but as a “tradition for the ages!” Brickhaus reassured NYU students that “we will get them next time!” If there is one thing we know for sure, ‘next time’ will be a close game. [cincopa AwCAcEctRMd8] This article was written by Emily Flippen. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Kevin Pham