NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team has advanced to its second straight Skyline Conference championship game, after defeating No. 3 the College at Old Westbury by a score of 103-70 in the conference semi-final at the Max Stern Athletic Center, on Friday afternoon.

No. 2 Yeshiva (19-7) will now await the winner of the second semi-final game between No. 1 Farmingdale State and No. 4 Purchase College, which will take place at the Nold Hall Athletic Complex, on Friday evening. The championship game will occur on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

"Loved our defensive energy and effort," Yeshiva University head coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "Home crowd was amazing as always and carried us big time."

The Macs' defense held the Panthers (16-11) to just 34.2 percent shooting from the field. Meanwhile, Yeshiva shot 60.7 percent from the floor (37-for-61), 46.2 percent from 3-point range (12-for-26), and 81 percent from the free throw line (17-for-21). The Maccabees had the advantage in rebounding, 43-31.

Leading the way for Yeshiva was junior forward Gabriel Leifer, who produced a game-high 31 points, led all players with 18 rebounds, and dished out a game-best seven assists. Freshman guard Ryan Turell produced 29 points with four rebounds and just as many assists. Junior guard Simcha Halpert netted 16 points, distributed four assists, and brought down four caroms.

The Macs led from wire-to-wire. Simcha Halpert successfully converted a 3-point field goal on back-to-back possessions to propel YU to a 12-4 lead, 6:12 into the contest. After the Panthers pulled to within four, the Maccabees surged to a 9-0 run to take a commanding 21-8 hold. Freshman guard Jeffrey Owen capped off the run with a layup. YU steadily increased its lead throughout the half. With six ticks left on the clock, Leifer drained a 3-point field goal to give Yeshiva its largest lead of the half, at 55-29, and that was the score entering the intermission.

Old Westbury improved in the second half, only getting outscored 48-44, but could not generate a consistent run to get back into the game. With 4:11 left to play, Simcha Halpert drained a jump shot to give Yeshiva its largest lead of the afternoon, 100-63. The Maccabees went on to earn the victory, 103-70.

For Yeshiva, junior forward Daniel Katz produced nine points, grabbed four boards, and dished out three assists. Senior forward Tal Gweta had a solid game with seven points and five rebounds, while Owen netted six points, distributed three assists, and grabbed just as many rebounds. Senior forward Michael Hayon and sophomore forward Caleb Milobsky each scored two points and had a rebound, while sophomore forward Kevin Bokor drained a shot from the charity stripe and brought down a carom of his own. Junior guard Tyler Hod had two assists and sophomore guard Eitan Halpert grabbed two rebounds.

For Old Westbury, senior forward Alan McDonald led the way with 23 points, while clutching five rebounds, and distributing a pair of assists.

Yeshiva's opponent, and the location of the Skyline championship game, will be announced on yumacs.com on Saturday evening.