NEWBURGH, N.Y – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team (1-5, 1-2 Skyline) suffered a Skyline loss to Mount Saint Mary College (3-0, 1-0 Skyline), 70-63, at the Kaplan Center on Thursday evening.
Yeshiva struggled from the field, only converting 36.2 percent of its shots for the game. Mount Saint Mary shot 46.7 percent overall.
Leading the way for the Maccabees was freshman guard Ryan Turell, who produced a game-high 26 points, while grabbing five rebounds, forcing two steals, and dishing out a pair of assists. First-year guard Daniel Tzion produced a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while junior forward Daniel Katz scored 10 points, clutched eight caroms, and distributed two assists. Junior forward Gabriel Leifer brought down a game-high 13 rebounds, handed out five assists, blocked four shots, collected a pair of steals, and scored two points.
The Maccabees got off to a strong start, as a successful jump shot by senior forward Michael Hayon gave the Blue and White an 11-4 lead, less than seven minutes into the contest. The Knights countered with an 11-1 run, in a span of 2:15, to take a 15-12 advantage. Tzion ended Mount Saint Mary's blitz by laying the ball up and in, while being fouled. He drained the shot from the charity stripe to complete the traditional three-point play and tie the game. On Yeshiva's next possession, Tzion grabbed an offensive board and then performed a layup to allow the Macs to regain the lead, 17-15.
Mount Saint Mary went on another run, this time scoring nine unanswered, to jump out in front 24-17 with 6:48 left to play in the half. The home team went up by as many as 12 before the Maccabees rallied to pull to within five. Mount Saint Mary scored the final four points of the period to go into intermission with a 37-28 lead.
After Yeshiva fell behind by double-digits in the early stages of the second half, Tzion produced a layup to spark a 12-0 run to give the Maccabees their first lead since the first half, 50-48. Katz capped off the run with a layup with 10:26 to play in regulation time.
Mount Saint Mary once again rallied, outscoring Yeshiva 10-2 in a span of 2:58, to regain the lead at 58-52 with 7:03 left to play. From that point on, Yeshiva played catch-up. The Knights would not allow the Maccabees to generate a rally for the remainder of the game, as Mount Saint Mary went on to win its Skyline opener, 70-63.
For the evening, Simcha Halpert scored eight points, while senior forward Tal Gweta produced two points and a block. Sophomore guard Eitan Halpert and freshman guard Jeffrey Owen each clutched a carom.
For the Knights, junior guard Kendall Francis produced 23 points with five rebounds and just as many assists. Sophomore Paul Sienke added 13 points, while freshman forward Chris Mikos scored 10 points of his own.
Yeshiva will return to the friendly confines of the Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday evening, for a Skyline matchup against Mount Saint Vincent, beginning at 8:30 p.m.