PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 2 Yeshiva University men's basketball team opened its Skyline schedule with a victory over St. Joseph's College Long Island, 82-58, at the Danzi Center on Sunday afternoon. YU's historic winning streak is now at a milestone of 40 games. The Maccabees are 4-0 (1-0 Skyline) to start the season.

The victory did not come easy as the Macs struggled to shoot the ball in the early stages of the game and fell behind by a score of 16-13, just under 10 minutes into the contest. The Blue and White adjusted and countered with six straight points, highlighted by a pair of layups from junior Matan Zucker, to take a 19-16 benefit. Later in the period, third-year player Ofek Reef connected on a jump shot to extend Yeshiva's lead to 21-18. After the Golden Eagles tied it, the Plano native executed another successful jump shot to allow the Macs to regain the advantage.

St. Joseph's Long Island would not go down quietly during the opening period as a layup in the paint by graduate student Gordon Shouler gave the home team the lead, 28-27, with 4:10 left to play in the half. Senior Ryan Turell helped the Maccabees turn it around as he converted a shot from beyond the arc to put his team back in front, 30-28.

With 1:36 left until halftime, the Golden Eagles once again tied the game, at 33 points apiece, thanks to a layup from sophomore Anthony Ferrufino.

Turell finished the half strong by draining two 3-point field goals in the final minute to help Yeshiva go into the break with a 39-33 lead.

YU's momentum carried into the second half as the Maccabees scored the first 19 points of the stanza to take a commanding 58-33 hold with 13:28 left to play in regulation time. Graduate student Gabriel Leifer began the run with a 3-point basket and then Turell capped it off with a layup off a feed from Reef. It ended up being a 25-0 run for the Maccabees going back to the last minute of the first half.

The Golden Eagles could not get back into the contest as the Macs went on to win their league opener and 40^th consecutive contest.

Yeshiva shot only 30.7% from beyond the arc during the first half but got hot from downtown in the final 20 minutes of the contest by converting 47.3% of its shots from long range.

Turell led all scorers with 26 points during the afternoon. Reef netted 18 points, while Leifer had a balanced performance with nine points, seven assists, and three steals. Senior Eitan Halpert netted three shots from beyond the arc, brought down a team-high five rebounds, dished out three assists, and forced just as many steals. Zucker had 10 points, four boards, and a pair of steals.

Graduate student Ethan Lasko scored six points, forced a game-high four steals, and distributed three assists. Sophomore Adi Markovich drained a 3-point field goal, dished out a career-high five assists, clutched three caroms, and forced a pair of steals.

For St. Joseph's Long Island, sophomore Spencer Malloy had a team-high 18 points, snatched six rebounds, and collected three steals. Ferrufino produced a double-double with 12 points and 14 boards.

Yeshiva will host College of Mount Saint Vincent, in a Skyline contest at the Max Stern Athletic Center, on Tuesday evening. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.