NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team lost another heartbreaker, this time in the regular season finale to Purchase College by a score of 98-96, at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Monday evening. As a result, Yeshiva (18-7, 16-4 Skyline) will enter the Skyline championships as the No. 2 seed and earn a first-round bye. Farmingdale State will compete in the conference playoffs as the No. 1 seed. The Maccabees and Rams finished with identical conference records and will each hold a share of the Skyline Regular Season title. However, since Farmingdale had a better record against Mount Saint Mary, Yeshiva lost the tiebreaker. 

Junior guard Elijah Lott hit two free throws to give Purchase (15-10, 13-7 Skyline) a 98-96 advantage with eight ticks left in regulation time. The Maccabees had one last chance to win, but junior guard Simcha Halpert's 3-point attempt with two seconds remaining bounced off the rim. Sophomore forward Kevin Bokor grabbed the offensive rebound but time expired and Purchase earned the win to clinch the No. 4 seed in the Skyline championships.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was junior forward Gabriel Leifer who produced game-highs with 33 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists, six blocked shots, and three steals.  Halpert netted 20 points, while freshman guard Ryan Turellproduced 16 points, grabbed seven boards, and had four assists.

The two teams exchanged leads throughout the first half. After senior guard Willie Britton's free throw extended Purchase's advantage to 42-37, Yeshiva countered with nine straight points, capped off by a 3-point field goal from Halpert, to propel the home team to a 46-42 lead. The Panthers answered with a run of their own, as Britton's layup put Purchase in front, 47-46, with 2:36 remaining in the half. With the game tied, 48-48, junior guard Maxx Miller converted a shot from beyond the arc to put Yeshiva in a three-point deficit with 1:16 left to play. On Yeshiva's next possession, senior forward Tal Gweta found Leifer who drained a 3-point field goal to tie the game. Both teams went into the intermission knotted up, 51-51.

In the second half, Yeshiva scored 10 unanswered points to take a commanding 72-60 lead with 11:12 remaining in regulation time. The run was capped off by a layup from Leifer. With 9:24 left to play, Leifer tipped the ball into the basket, off his own rebound, to extend YU's lead to 76-62. After Purchase rallied to pull to within five, junior guard Tyler Hod drained a 3-point field goal to extend the Blue and White's lead to 91-83 with 2:53 left on the clock. Purchase answered as Lott nailed a 3-pointer to cap off five straight scored by the visiting team to shrink YU's hold to 91-88 with less than two minutes remaining.

A pair of free throws by Hod made the score 94-90 in favor of Yeshiva, with 1:23 to go. Britton answered with two shots from the charity stripe to cut the Macs' lead to two. After Purchase held Yeshiva scoreless on the next possession, Lott executed a layup to tie the game, 94-94, with 53 seconds remaining. Halpert was fouled on Yeshiva's next possession and was sent to the free throw line. He hit both shots to allow YU to regain a two-point lead with 43 seconds to go. Lott would strike again, laying the ball up and in to tie the game, with 17 seconds left to play.

Yeshiva had an opportunity to win it, but senior guard Michael Soffer knocked the ball away from Hod and into the hands of Lott, who was fouled right away. He went two-for-two from the line to give Purchase a narrow two-point lead with eight seconds to go. Halpert's 3-point attempt was off the mark and Purchase went on to win the game.

For Yeshiva, Gweta scored seven points, brought down three rebounds, and had two assists. Junior forward Daniel Katz and Bokor each produced six points.

For Purchase, four players scored in double-figures. Britton produced a team-high 28 points, while Lott netted 23 points, dished out nine assists, and grabbed six rebounds.

Yeshiva will play the winner of the No. 3 Old Westbury vs. No. 6 Mount Saint Mary first round game, in the semi-final round at the Max Stern Athletic Center, on Friday afternoon beginning at 12:00 p.m. No. 4 Purchase will host No. 5 Sarah Lawrence College, in the first round, on Wednesday. The winner will play at No. 1 Farmingdale State on Friday afternoon.