BALTIMORE, Md. – The nationally ranked No. 13 Yeshiva University men's basketball team made history on Friday afternoon, by winning its first NCAA tournament game in program history. Yeshiva knocked off Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 102-78, at Goldfarb Gymnasium on the campus of Johns Hopkins University.

Yeshiva will play the winner of host and nationally ranked No. 6 Johns Hopkins University and Penn State Harrisburg, in the second round on Saturday night, back in Goldfarb Gymnasium. Time is to be announced.

"Exciting to get our first program NCAA win, but this was the goal when we put this class together," Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "Now we get the opportunity to play another game."

Leading the way for the Maccabees (28-1) was sophomore guard Ryan Turell, who led all players with a career-best 41 points, while shooting 13-for-16 from the field and 7-for-9 from 3-point range. Turell's 41 points puts him in a six-way tie for fourth place on the school's all-time single-game scoring list. The Los Angeles native also grabbed five rebounds and distributed a pair of assists.

Senior guard Simcha Halpert scored 20 points. He now moves into second place on YU's all-time scoring list with 1,824 career points. He surpassed Ayal Hod ('89), who netted 1,807 points in his illustrious career. Simcha Halpert officially moved ahead of Hod with a successful shot from beyond the arc, 4:44 into the contest. 

Junior guard Eitan Halpert tallied 14 points, a career-best eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Senior forward Gabriel Leifer produced four points, dished out eight assists, and brought down just as many boards.

YU shot 60.7% from the field and converted 53.6% of its shots from beyond the arc. Yeshiva has now won 28 consecutive games, the longest in all of NCAA Division III.

The Maccabees got off to a slow start, falling behind 9-6, 4:18 into the contest. Simcha Halpert drained his historic 3-point field goal to even the game, 9-9, with 14:59 to go in the opening half. That sparked a 7-0 run for the Maccabees, capped off by a layup from Turell to put YU up, 13-9, with 14:09 to go.

After the Engineers (20-8) scored a basket, Yeshiva produced seven unanswered points to take an 22-11 hold, with 10:40 left to play in the period. The highlight of the rally was Simcha Halpert forcing a steal and Turell capitalizing on a 3-point basket at the 13:23 mark.

After WPI tallied four straight points, Turell halted the opposition's momentum with another successful shot from downtown to extend the Macs' cushion to 10, at 25-15, with 8:53 remaining.

Yeshiva continued to pour it on in the opening half, as Eitan Halpert received a feed from senior guard Tyler Hod and drained a 3-point basket to put the Maccabees up, 35-18, with 6:01 left to play. The Macs led by as many as 23 before taking a 51-30 hold into the intermission.

The Maccabees came storming out of the gate in the second stanza, as a 3-point field goal by Turell inflated Yeshiva's cushion to 62-36, with 17:04 remaining in regulation time. The Engineers could not generate a consistent run to get back into the game, as Simcha Halpert drained a jump shot to give Yeshiva its largest lead of the contest, at 88-61, with 5:20 to go in regulation. Yeshiva went on to earn its first ever NCAA tournament victory, 102-78.

For Yeshiva, junior forward Caleb Milobsky netted eight points and clutched three rebounds. Freshman guard Ofek Reef tallied four points with a pair of boards. Senior guard Bar Alluf had two points with four rebounds, and senior forward Daniel Katz scored a basket with four boards. Hod added three points and two caroms.

For WPI, four players reached double-figures in scoring, including a team-best 18 points from freshman forward John Lowther. Junior guard Kahleb Downing tallied 11 points and distributed six assists.

Be sure to check out YUMacs.com and all our social media channels for the latest updates regarding Yeshiva's second round matchup with Johns Hopkins / Penn State Harrisburg. Like us on Facebook (Yeshiva Athletics) and follow us on both Twitter (@YUathletics) and Instagram (@yeshivaathletics).