NEW YORK – In a hard-fought battle between two reigning NCAA Tournament teams, the No. 6 Yeshiva University men's basketball team came out on top over University of Saint Joseph, 78-71, at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday evening. YU extends its nation-best winning streak to 34 games, including a 5-0 start to the 2020-21 season. Saint Joseph drops its season opener after going 26-3 last year, which includes capturing the Great Northeast Atlantic Conference Championship and earning a spot in the national postseason.

After the Blue Jays rallied to pull to within two, with 13:49 remaining in regulation time, the Maccabees executed key baskets and stops to inflate their led to 53-44 with 11 minutes to go. Saint Joseph did manage to shrink YU's lead to four with 6:23 left to play, but Yeshiva's clutch shooting in the closing minutes of the contest was too much for the visiting team.

"Thought our defense was solid tonight against a really tough Top 25 level team," Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz said. "And our guys converted some big opportunities down the stretch."

Junior guard Ryan Turell and senior guard Eitan Halpert tied a game-high with 20 points each. Turell grabbed eight rebounds, distributed five assists, and blocked a pair of shots. Halpert forced four steals. Senior forward Gabriel Leifer just missed a triple-double, netting 13 points, bringing down just as many rebounds, and delivering nine assists. The Lawrence native also blocked four shots. 

As a unit, YU shot 53.4% from the field.

Both teams kept it close in the early stages of the game, but a layup from sophomore forward Jasper Newman opened up six unanswered points for the Maccabees, and Turell capped it off with a jump shot that gave the home team more breathing room, at 21-13, with 10:02 left to play in the opening half.

YU went up by as many as 10 in the first stanza, but the Blue Jays were able to score seven unanswered points to slice their deficit to just three (27-24) with 5:30 remaining. Back-to-back baskets by Leifer and Halpert disrupted the opposition's momentum and gave the Macs a seven-point cushion. However, Saint Joseph countered with five straight points, concluded by a successful jump shot from junior forward Jake Sullivan, to narrow the Blue and White's lead to 31-29 with 3:37 remaining in the half.

Once again, Yeshiva was able to disrupt the visiting team's momentum, this time by finishing the period with six straight points. Sophomore guard Matan Zucker began and closed YU's strong stretch with layups, the latest one coming with 1:22 left to play, to increase the Macs' advantage to 37-29. That would be the score after 20 minutes of play.

Less than three minutes into the second half, a pair of free throws by Turell allowed YU to equal its largest lead of the evening, at 44-34. However, Saint Joseph responded with eight straight points to shrink Yeshiva's lead to just two, with 15:27 left to play in the second half. After a pair of free throws from Zucker extended the Macs' lead to four, Sullivan capitalized on a layup to pull the Blue Jays to within two, at 46-44.

Yeshiva once again responded to the danger of its lead disappearing by going on another run, this time scoring seven straight points to build its advantage to 53-44 with 11 minutes to go. The highlight of the run was a timely 3-point field goal from freshman guard Oren Betesh, and then Turell capped it off with a layup.

Later in the stanza, the Blue Jays went on a 4-0 run to decrease the Macs' lead to 57-52 with 7:17 to go. Yeshiva answered as Betesh once again drained a key shot from downtown to put his team back up by eight.

Despite YU's best efforts, Saint Joseph did not allow the game to slip away just yet. Senior guard Jordan Powell started it off with a layup. Junior guard Jaecee Martin then forced a steal on the next possession and fed it to Powell, who was fouled. He drained both shots from the charity stripe to pull his team to within four, at 60-56, with 6:23 left to play.

Yeshiva once again was able to cancel out Saint Joseph's rally with a run of its own. Halpert capitalized on a layup and then hit an important shot from beyond the arc, to inflate the Macs' lead to 65-57. After Yeshiva forced a turnover, Turell concluded Yeshiva's 7-1 run with a successful jump shot to make the score 67-57 in favor of the defending Skyline Conference Champions with 4:24 left to play.

That run put the dagger in Saint Joseph. Although the Blue Jays managed to pull to within five, with 44 seconds remaining in the game, Yeshiva answered by converting key free throws the rest of the way to secure the victory by a score of 78-71.

For the Maccabees, Zucker added nine points and four rebounds. Sophomore guard Ofek Reef returned to action and produced eight points.

For the Blue Jays, Powell produced a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Martin provided 10 points, tied a game-high with nine assists, and forced three steals. Junior forward Tyree Mitchell scored 19 points and brought down three rebounds.

These two teams will have a rematch on Monday evening, this time at the O'Connell Center, beginning at 7:00 p.m.