RIVERDALE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team earned a Skyline victory over Mount Saint Vincent, 67-54, at the Peter Jay Sharp Center on Thursday evening. Thanks to YU's program-record 12thstraight win, the Maccabees have clinched a berth in the Skyline Conference championships for the fifth year in a row. The Macs (13-5, 11-2 Skyline) remain in first place in the conference standings, while the Dolphins drop to 5-15 for the season and 4-11 in the Skyline.
Leading the way for the Maccabees was junior guard Simcha Halpert, who produced a game-high 21 points to go along with four assists. Junior forward Gabriel Leiferproduced a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while distributing three assists, forcing just as many steals, and blocking two shots. Freshman guard Ryan Turell just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while dishing out three dimes.
The Maccabees did not trail at any point in the game. Senior forward Michael Hayon converted a layup to give the Blue and White a 19-10 advantage with 12:44 remaining in the half. Mount Saint Vincent rallied with an 11-2 run to tie the game, 21-21, with 8:37 left to play. Yeshiva answered with a 13-2 run to regain a commanding lead, 34-23, with 2:49 left until the break. Junior guard Raiquis Harris hit a pair of free throws for the Dolphins, with 1:01 remaining, to send both teams into the break with YU up by nine.
Halpert's layup sparked an 8-0 run to extend Yeshiva's lead to 45-29, in the early stages of the second half. However, Mount Saint Vincent chipped away throughout the period to narrow YU's lead. Harris converted two more shots from the charity stripe to pull the home team to within five, at 52-47, with 5:21 remaining in regulation time. Halpert countered with a timely 3-point field goal on the next possession to extend the Maccabees' lead to eight.
CMSV went on a 5-2 run, later in the stanza, to cut Yeshiva's hold to 59-52 with 2:03 left to play. However, junior forward Daniel Katz answered with a clutch 3-pointer on the next possession to put the Macs back up by 10. That shot proved to be the dagger, as Mount Saint Vincent could not pull to within single-digits for the remainder of the game, and Yeshiva pulled away to a 67-54 victory.
For the evening, senior forward Tal Gweta scored four points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out just as many assists. Katz added six rebounds, while Hayon produced five points with two boards. Freshman guard Jeffrey Owenscored two points and clutched a pair of rebounds.
For Mount Saint Vincent, Harris scored a team-high 19 points and had seven boards.
Yeshiva will battle Sarah Lawrence College, in a Skyline Conference showdown at the Campbell Sports Center on Sunday, beginning at 1:00 p.m.