PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team earned a key Skyline Conference victory over Purchase College, 95-71, at the Purchase College Gymnasium on Thursday evening. The Maccabees have now won three games in a row and advance to 4-2 in the conference (4-5 overall). The Panthers drop to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in Skyline play.

History was made as junior guard Simcha Halpert reached the 1,000-point milestone. The Los Angeles native becomes just the 29^th player in program history to accomplish this feat. The last YU player to do so was Shelby Rosenberg ('16), who scored his 1,000^th career point during the final game of the 2015-16 regular season.

Halpert officially joined the 1,000-point club by launching a 3-point field goal late in the second half.

"It's a pretty cool atmosphere and it's pretty cool to be one of those players (to score 1,000 career points)," Halpert said. "Obviously the main goal is to get another championship, go to the NCAA tournament, and advance to the Final Four. It's just a small milestone in what's to hopefully be a much better career."

For the game, junior forward Gabriel Leifer just missed a triple-double, scoring 16 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and dishing out nine assists. The second-year forward also blocked four shots and collected two steals. Freshman guard Ryan Turell led all players in scoring with 26 points, shooting 9-16 from the field in the process. As a team, the Maccabees shot 52.9 percent from the field and successfully converted 16 out of 21 shots from the charity stripe.

Less than four minutes into the game, Leifer grabbed a defensive rebound and threw an outlet pass to Turell, who slammed the ball into the rim, to give the Maccabees a 12-9 advantage. After Purchase countered with a basket, Yeshiva scored seven unanswered points to take a 19-11 lead, with 14:34 remaining in the opening period. Turell capped off the rally with a 3-point field goal.

Yeshiva finished the opening half strong, outscoring Purchase by a score of 13-3 in the period's final six minutes. In the closing seconds of the stanza, junior forward Daniel Katz fed the ball to Turell, who drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Maccabees a commanding 51-28 hold at the break.

The Macs led by as many as 27 in the second half, but the Panthers scored 10 unanswered points to narrow the deficit to 62-45, with 13:31 remaining in regulation time. Halpert interrupted Purchase's momentum by laying the ball up and in, to extend YU's lead to 19. From that point on, the Maccabees did not allow the Panthers to sustain a run to get back into the game.

With 2:51 left to play, Halpert received a pass from freshman guard Daniel Tzion and drained the 3-pointer that clinched his 1,000^th career point. Halpert's historic shot gave Yeshiva a commanding 90-65 advantage. "Truthfully, I didn't really know about it," Halpert said when asked if the chase for 1,000 points weighed on his mind. "One of my friends told me about it. I haven't been thinking about it much. I just wanted to help my team get the win, tonight."

Yeshiva went on to earn the key Skyline road win, 95-71. "It feels good," Halpert added. "It feels like we are starting to roll now. It was a big road win against a great team in a tough atmosphere. Hopefully we start to establish winning on the road."

For the game, Halpert finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and three assists. "It was a special night for a special kid," Yeshiva University head coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "Simcha has been 'team first' since he got here and there's a reason he's a captain and leader as a junior. Couldn't be luckier to be along for a ride that is Simcha's career."

Senior forward Tal Gweta had a solid game with nine points and seven rebounds, while Katz scored six points, clutched five boards, distributed four assists, and had a pair of steals.

Tzion tallied 11 points and brought down six caroms, while senior forward Michael Hayon added four points and three boards. Freshman guard Jeffrey Owen and junior forward Kevin Bokor each scored two points, with the former grabbing four rebounds and handing out three assists.  Sophomore guard Eitan Halpert had two points and a rebound. 

The Maccabees will return to the friendly confines of the Max Stern Athletic Center, on Saturday evening, for a Skyline Conference matchup against Maritime College. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.