NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team earned its fourth consecutive Skyline victory, defeating Maritime College by a score of 79-56, at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday evening. The Maccabees advance to 5-5 this season and 5-2 in the conference, while the Privateers drop to 2-8 overall and 1-4 in Skyline play.
"I love how we are defending right now," Yeshiva University head coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "This mentality and obsession with defense is making us stronger."
Yeshiva shot 58.5 percent from the field. Freshman guard Ryan Turell tied a game-high with 21 points, while distributing three assists and grabbing two rebounds. Junior forward Gabriel Leifer produced a double-double with 10 points, all in the second half, and 15 rebounds. Leifer also dished out six assists and blocked a pair of shots.
Junior guard Simcha Halpert added 21 points with five rebounds, three steals, and two assists. The Los Angeles native has now scored 1,023 career points which moves him up to 28th place on the team's all-time scoring list. He is currently one point behind Shelby Rosenberg ('16) for 27th overall in team history.
The Maccabees got off to a slow start in the game, as the Privateers grabbed a 15-6 hold with 12:24 left to play in the opening half. Yeshiva stormed back with eight unanswered points, capped off by a 3-point field goal from freshman guard Daniel Tzion, to pull YU to within one with 9:17 to go in the period. Later in the half, a successful jump shot by freshman guard Jeffrey Owen tied the game at 19. On Yeshiva's next possession, Halpert converted a layup off a fast break to put YU in front.
With the game even, 23-23, Yeshiva took control of the game by scoring nine unanswered points. The run was capped off by Turell drawing a foul, while attempting a 3-point shot. He hit all three attempts from the charity stripe to give the Maccabees a 32-23 advantage with 55 ticks left in the opening half. Junior guard Michael Walker added a free throw with 30 seconds to go to pull Maritime to within eight. The half ended with Yeshiva up, 32-24.
The Maccabees dominated the second half, outscoring the Privateers by a 47-32 margin. Yeshiva opened the stanza by going on an 13-1 run, capped off by a layup from Leifer to give the home team a commanding 45-25 hold with 16:49 remaining in regulation time. The Privateers could not generate a run to get back into the game. With 4:19 left to play, Simcha Halpert took a feed from Leifer and executed a layup off a fast break to give Yeshiva its largest lead of the game, at 73-44. YU ended up winning the game, 79-56.
For the evening, Tzion scored eight points, grabbed seven rebounds, forced three steals, and had two assists. Sophomore guard Eitan Halpert had seven points, brought down four boards, and passed out three assists. Senior forward Tal Gweta scored six points and had just as many rebounds, while junior forward Daniel Katz had two points with three boards and just as many assists. Owen scored three points and Hayon hit a free throw to go along with two caroms. Junior forward Kevin Bokor had a rebound, while senior guard Justin Hod notched an assist.
Yeshiva will travel to Long Island on Tuesday, for a Skyline Conference showdown against Farmingdale State College. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.