FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 1 Yeshiva University men's basketball team continued its winning ways on Wednesday evening, defeating Farmingdale State College by a score of 80-66, at the Nold Hall Athletic Complex. Yeshiva is now 6-0 in Skyline play (9-0 overall) and extends its winning streak to 45 games.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior Eitan Halpert who scored a game-high 22 points, shooting 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc. Classmate Ryan Turell netted 21 points and went a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Junior Ofek Reef produced 15 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Graduate student Gabriel Leifer led all players with 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Yeshiva got off to a slow start, falling behind 12-4 less than five minutes into the contest. However, the Maccabees were able to chip away. Sophomore Oren Betesh drained a key 3-point field goal to narrow YU's deficit to 16-15. A few possessions later, Reef forced a steal, dribbled down the court on a fastbreak, and slammed the ball into the hoop to put YU in front for good, 17-16, with 10:21 left to play in the opening half. Yeshiva was able to pad its lead, as a slam dunk by Turell off a pass from Leifer made the score 23-16.

Farmingdale State finished the first half strong, scoring four unanswered points to shrink YU's advantage to 38-35 after 20 minutes of play.

Yeshiva had a great start to the second half, as a layup by graduate student Jordan Armstrong sparked a 9-1 run that inflated Yeshiva's lead to 47-36. After the Rams pulled to within nine, Armstrong took a feed from Reef and dunked the ball into the basket to extend the Blue and White's hold to 49-38 with 17:23 remaining in regulation time.

Farmingdale scored the next four points to pull to within seven, but Leifer halted the opposing team's momentum with a clutch shot from downtown to put YU back up by double digits with 14:36 left to play. The Rams would not go down quietly as four straight points shrunk Yeshiva's benefit to 52-46 with 12:42 to go.

From that point on, Yeshiva took over the game by going on a 13-0 run, in a span of 2:34, to take a commanding 65-46 hold with 9:20 left to play. Turell started the game-altering blitz with a pair of free throws and then capped it off with a fastbreak layup. The Rams could not pull to within single-digits for the remainder of the game and Yeshiva went on to earn the conference victory by a score of 80-66.

For the Maccabees, junior Matan Zucker had eight points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Armstrong had seven points, four rebounds, and a pair of steals.

No. 1 Yeshiva will return to the friendly confines of the Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday night for a Skyline Conference matchup against SUNY Old Westbury. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:30 p.m.