NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team earned its second consecutive Skyline victory by defeating St. Joseph's College Long Island, 92-68, at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Tuesday evening. Yeshiva advances to 3-2 in the conference (3-5), while St. Joseph's L.I. drops to 1-2 in the Skyline (2-7 overall).

"I love our defensive effort right now," Yeshiva University head coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "We need to keep this energy level going forward, so we can keep competing in tough conference games."

Freshman guard Ryan Turell led all players with 23 points, while distributing three assists and forcing four steals. Junior forward Gabriel Leifer had yet another productive game across the board, producing a double-double with 22 points and 16 rebounds, while dishing out five assists and collecting just as many steals. Junior guard Simcha Halpertdropped 21 points to go along with three assists. He is now just 15 points away from the 1,000-point milestone for his career.

The Maccabees never trailed at any point in the game. Turell propelled Yeshiva to a strong start by nailing a 3-pointer to put the home team up, 8-2, just over three minutes into the contest. Later in the stanza, junior forward Daniel Katzgrabbed a defensive rebound and threw a long pass to Turell, who elevated off the ground and slammed the ball into the basket to extend Yeshiva's lead to 14-6.

After the Golden Eagles pulled to within seven, the Maccabees scored 10 unanswered points to take a convincing 29-12 lead, with 9:22 to go in the half. Freshman guard Daniel Tzion successfully converted two layups during Yeshiva's game-turning run. With 1:23 to go until the break, Simcha Halpert nailed a 3-pointer to give the Macs their largest lead of the half, at 50-27. YU was up by 22 at the intermission.

The Maccabees steadily increased their advantage throughout the first frame of the second half, as a layup by sophomore guard Eitan Halpert gave Yeshiva its largest lead of the game, at 77-37, with 11:25 remaining. The Golden Eagles went on a run to get the game closer, but it would not be enough as Yeshiva went on to earn the convincing Skyline victory, 92-68.

For the game, Tzion scored eight points with three rebounds and two steals, while Eitan Halpert produced six points with two rebounds. Senior forward Michael Hayon and freshman guard Jeffrey Owen each dropped four points with a pair of rebounds, with the latter distributing a pair of assists. Junior forward Kevin Bokor scored two points with a rebound, while senior guard Justin Hod and sophomore guard Albert Waxman each dished out an assist. Katz had four dimes to go along with two points and three rebounds.  

The Maccabees will travel to Westchester on Thursday, for a Skyline showdown with Purchase College, in a rematch of last year's conference championship game. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.