SALISBURY, Md. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team earned an impressive victory over Salisbury University, 79-71, at the Maggs Center on Saturday evening.

The key for Yeshiva (2-1) was an 8-0 run in the early stages of the second half that put the Blue and White in the lead for good, on its way to a key victory over a Salisbury team (2-1) that earned an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament, last season.

"Just really proud of the guys," Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "Tough environment on the road against a perennial top 25 tournament team. Big win for us as we continue to build."

Leading the way for the Maccabees was sophomore guard Ryan Turell, who tallied a game-high 21 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field, while grabbing 10 rebounds to earn the double-double. Senior forward Gabriel Leifer added 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting, dished out a game-high seven assists, and brought down six boards. Rookie guard Ofek Reef produced a career-best 18 points to go along with four rebounds, while successfully converting all seven of his free throw attempts.

YU fell behind, 15-14, early in the game. A 3-point field goal by Reef not only put the Macs ahead but began an 11-2 run that propelled Yeshiva to a 25-17 hold with 7:09 left to play in the opening half. Later in the stanza, Leifer successfully converted a layup that gave Yeshiva its largest lead of the game, at 32-21, with 5:20 remaining in the opening period. The Sea Gulls finished the half strong by outscoring the Maccabees, 12-6, in the final 5:07 to narrow YU's lead to 38-33 at the intermission.

Salisbury's momentum continued into the second half by scoring the first four points to pull to within one, at 38-37. Leifer temporarily halted the Sea Gulls' momentum by executing a layup to stretch Yeshiva's lead to three. With 17:14 left in regulation, senior guard Simcha Halpert gave Yeshiva more breathing room by draining a 3-point field goal to make it 48-42 in favor of the Maccabees.

The home team would not go down without a fight, as Salisbury rallied with seven unanswered points, capped off by a pair of free throws from junior guard Mike Ward, to go in front for the first time since the eighth minute of the opening half.

From that point on, Yeshiva took over the game with its 8-0 run to take the lead for good. Turell began the run by drawing a foul and hitting both free throws to put YU ahead, 50-49, with 14:21 remaining in regulation time. Halpert and Leifer each drained a successful shot from beyond the arc to inflate the Blue and White's lead to seven, at 56-49, with 12:39 left to play.

Salisbury scored six straight points to narrow Yeshiva's advantage to one, but Reef countered with a timely layup while being fouled. He converted a free throw to complete the traditional three-point play and put the Macs back up by four, 59-55, with 10:47 remaining.

The Sea Gulls kept pace with the Maccabees from that point on but could not generate a rally to get to within one possession.

With Yeshiva hanging on to a four-point lead in the final minute, Leifer found Turell, who executed a layup to put the opposition in a six-point hole, at 75-69, with 36 ticks left on the clock. Reef hit four free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the win for Yeshiva, 79-71.

For the evening, Halpert and senior guard Bar Alluf each scored nine points, with the latter grabbing three rebounds and forcing two steals.

Three players scored in double-figures for Salisbury, including a team-best 15 points from Ward.

Yeshiva will conclude its season-opening four-game road trip on Sunday afternoon at Washington College (Md.). Tip-off at the Cain Athletic Center is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.