NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team opened the home portion of its schedule in grand fashion, defeating Brooklyn College by a score of 98-74, at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Thursday evening. The Maccabees advance to 4-1 and have won four straight games, while the Bulldogs drop to 0-3.

The Maccabees led from wire-to-wire in the battle of two teams that are projected to finish first overall in its respective conferences.

"Just great to be back home, playing at the Max Stern Athletic Center with our fans being loud," Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "Different experience playing at home. Glad we could provide some excitement and a W."

Leading the way for Yeshiva was senior forward Gabriel Leifer, who was just one assist shy of a triple-double, as he scored 23 points, brought down 12 rebounds, and dished out nine assists. The Lawrence native also had a strong game defensively, blocking a game-best six shots.   

Sophomore forward Ryan Turell also had a double-double, leading all players with 25 points to go along with 10 rebounds, while distributing seven assists.

The key in the first half was an 8-0 run for the Maccabees that put the home team up, 16-6, just over five minutes into the contest. Senior guard Simcha Halpert and Turell hit back-to-back 3-point shots during the rally, and junior forward Caleb Milobsky capped it off with a layup to put YU up by eight.

Later in the half, Halpert found Leifer who buried a shot from beyond the arc to give the Blue and White a commanding 19-point lead, at 39-20, with 5:31 remaining in the period. The Bulldogs went on a run to get to within 12, but Yeshiva scored the last four points of the stanza to take a 47-31 advantage at the break.

After Milobsky opened the second half with a 3-point field goal, Brooklyn scored 16 unanswered points in a span of 3:40 to shrink YU's lead to 50-47, with 15:40 remaining in regulation time. Turell was able to stop the Bulldogs' rally by converting a layup, while being fouled. He drained the shot from the charity stripe to complete the traditional three-point play and give the Macs more breathing room, at 53-47. That began a 12-4 run by the Macs, capped off by Leifer's own traditional three-point play, to put YU back up by double-digits at 62-51.

In the late stages of the second half, Leifer converted a layup and drew a foul at the same time. His successful free throw shot capped off an 11-2 run to give Yeshiva a commanding 73-55 hold with 10:25 left to play. Brooklyn could not generate a rally to get back into the game, as Yeshiva outscored the opposition, 25-19, the rest of the way en route to its home-opening win, 98-74.

For the Maccabees, Halpert scored 17 points, including five 3-point field goals. Milobsky and freshman guard Ofek Reef each scored 13 points, with the former grabbing six rebounds. The latter brought down five caroms and distributed a pair of assists. Sophomore guard Max Leibowitz scored five points, while second-year guard Jeffrey Owen added two points, a rebound, and a steal.   

For the Bulldogs, senior guard Anthony McClean scored 20 points, while junior forward Joevanny Dambreville tallied a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Yeshiva will open Skyline Conference play on Saturday evening, at Mount Saint Vincent, beginning at 8:30 p.m.