NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked No. 22 Yeshiva University men's basketball team earned its 19th consecutive victory on Wednesday evening, defeating Skyline rival Mount Saint Mary College by a score of 82-65, at the Kaplan Center. Yeshiva advances its record to 19-1 for the season and moves up to 11-0 in Skyline play. The Maccabees tie a school record for most wins in a season, as the Blue and White also won 19 games back in 2018-19.
The victory was the 100th in the collegiate coaching career of Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz, who reaches the milestone in just his sixth season at the helm at YU. He is third on Yeshiva's All-Time Wins List, behind Bernard "Red" Sarachek (201 wins) and Jonathan Halpert (421 wins).
Yeshiva shot 56.9% from the field, while holding Mount Saint Mary (6-14, 4-7 Skyline) to 40.9% shooting.
Leading the way for the Maccabees was sophomore guard Ryan Turell, who netted a game-high 30 points, on 13-for-20 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists. Senior guard Simcha Halpert had 14 points, three assists, just as many rebounds, and three steals. Third-year forward Gabriel Leifer had 11 points, a game-high 16 rebounds, four blocks, and just as many steals.
The Knights gave the Maccabees a tough battle early on, as a layup by junior guard Paul Sienke gave the home team an 18-17 advantage with 11:05 left in the opening half. Junior forward Caleb Milobsky answered on the next possession, as he converted a layup to put YU in front for good.
Later in the half, with Yeshiva only up by one (26-25), Turell nailed a jump shot to extend the Macs' lead to three with 7:36 left before the intermission.
The key of the period was a 10-2 run that surged Yeshiva to a 42-32 hold with 1:30 left to play in the opening stanza. Senior guard Bar Alluf began the run by receiving a feed from Simcha Halpert and burying a 3-point field goal. Turell capped it off by nailing a jumper, while drawing a foul, and then adding the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play. The Maccabees went into the break up by a score of 42-34.
The Knights surged back into the game during the middle stages of the second half, as Sienke nailed a jump shot to cap off an 8-0 run to pull the home team to within one, at 59-58, with 7:58 remaining in regulation time. Turell answered with a timely jump shot to extend the Macs' lead to three, with 7:32 left. That sparked a key 12-0 run to give the Maccabees a commanding 71-58 hold with 4:41 left to play. The highlight of Yeshiva's late-game blitz was a tip-in by Turell and a layup courtesy of Leifer. During Yeshiva's rally, Mount Saint Mary was held scoreless for 4:32.
The Knights had one more mini run in them, managing to pull to within eight, but Yeshiva nipped the opposition's comeback attempt in the bud with eight straight points to put the game out of reach for MSMC. Yeshiva went on to win its first game at the Kaplan Center since December of 2014, by a score of 82-65.
"Was great to see our guys grind it out tonight on defense in a tough environment against a really tough team," Steinmetz said.
For the Maccabees, Alluf netted nine points on 4-for-4 shooting. Classmate Daniel Katz had seven points and three rebounds, while freshman guard Ofek Reef generated six points and four boards. Milobsky tallied five points and two rebounds. Junior guard Eitan Halpert brought down four caroms and distributed three assists.
For the Knights, senior guard Kendall Francis had 15 points and four assists, both team-highs.
The Maccabees will return to the Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday evening, for a Skyline Conference matchup against the College of Mount Saint Vincent, beginning at 8:30 p.m.