NEW YORK - The nationally ranked No. 6 Yeshiva University men's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking Skyline Conference loss to Farmingdale State College, 79-75, at Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday evening. This marks the first regular season Skyline loss for Yeshiva since February 18, 2019, against Purchase College. 
 
With the win, the second-place Rams (14-7, 10-2 Skyline) move to within one game of the Maccabees (18-2, 11-1 Skyline) for the top spot in the conference standings. Both teams split their two-game regular season head-to-head-series.
 
The Maccabees trailed by 16 with 10:01 remaining in regulation time but stormed all the way back to take a one-point lead with 1:13 left to play. However, on the next possession, sophomore Nick Hurowitz provided the heroics for Farmingdale by converting a layup with 59.5 ticks left on the clock to put the Rams back in front. Yeshiva could not tie it up or regain the lead the rest of the way. Farmingdale was able to drain key free throws to ice the game.
 
The Rams had a strong shooting night by converting 56.3% of their shot attempts, including 58.8% from beyond the arc. The Macs' shooting percentage in the second half improved to 57.1% compared to just 48.0% percent in the opening period.
 
Leading the way for the Maccabees was graduate Gabriel Leifer who generated 15 points, dished out eight assists, grabbed six rebounds, blocked three shots, and forced just as many steals. He now has 1,511 points in his illustrious career. Leifer eclipsed the 1,500-career points milestone by taking a feed from senior Ryan Turell and draining a 3-point field goal that narrowed YU's deficit to 16-12, 4:48 into the game. That gave him career points No. 1,500, 1,501, and 1,502. He moves ahead of the late Harvey Sheff ('82) for No. 6 on YU's All-Time Scoring List. Sheff scored 1,500 points during his collegiate career at YU. 
 
Turell led all players with 21 points, on 8-for-15 shooting, while distributing six assists.

Farmingdale was able to build the lead to 24-16 in the early stages of the contest. The Maccabees countered by senior Eitan Halpert and Turell combining for back-to-back 3-point baskets to narrow the Rams' lead to two with 10:28 remaining in the opening half. Later in the stanza, with YU down by two, Leifer received the ball from junior Matan Zucker and converted a layup to even the contest at 32 points apiece with 4:53 left until halftime. Farmingdale finished the opening period strong by outscoring Yeshiva, 9-2, during the final 3:16 of the half to take a 41-34 hold into the intermission.

FSC's momentum continued into the second half as the visiting team continued to inflate its lead. Hurowitz drained a shot from the charity stripe to give the Rams their largest advantage of the evening, at 67-51, with 10:01 left to play.

Yeshiva would not go down without a fight, as Halpert and graduate student Ethan Lasko buried back-to-back triples to shrink YU's deficit to 67-57. After the Rams went back up by 12, the Macs answered with eight unanswered points, capped off by Turell's successful shot from downtown to shrink the opposition's lead to 69-65 with 4:58 remaining in regulation time. FSC continued to hold off YU's rally by inflating its benefit back to seven on multiple occasions.

Finally, Yeshiva went on the run that it needed, scoring seven unanswered points. Lasko began the rally by taking a pass from Turell and converting a jump shot off the fastbreak. After Leifer forced a steal on the next possession, Halpert was fouled. He knocked down both shots from the free throw line to pull the Blue and White to within three, at 74-71, with 2:27 remaining. Yeshiva was able to get the ball back and Leifer took advantage by converting a layup to narrow YU's deficit to one, much to the delight of the roaring Macs' faithful. Yeshiva's defense struck again, as Zucker forced a steal. Leifer drove to the basket and put the ball into the hoop to put the Maccabees in front, 75-74, with 1:13 left to play and Max Stern Athletic Center filled with loud cheers from the crowd.

After Farmingdale called a timeout, Hurowitz went to the paint and executed a key layup to put his team back in front, 76-75, with 59.5 seconds remaining. Yeshiva had multiple chances to tie or take the lead but could not capitalize on another shot the rest of the way. Hurowitz was intentionally fouled with 0.9 left on the clock and Farmingdale's lead now up to two, at 77-75. He drained two timely free throws to seal the Skyline victory for the Rams and hand the Macs' their first conference regular season loss in three years.

For the Maccabees, Zucker had a strong game off the bench with 10 points, six rebounds, two blocks, and just as many steals. Halpert added 11 points.

The Rams had balanced scoring led by Hurowitz with 15 points. He also snatched six rebounds and delivered three assists. Sophomore Aaron Davis had 14 points and five assists, while senior Dominique Senat tallied 13 points and six boards. Freshman Jevon Santos had a productive game with 10 points, six assists, five rebounds, and three steals.

Yeshiva will hit the road on Wednesday for a Skyline matchup against SUNY Old Westbury, at the Nold Hall Athletic Complex, in Farmingdale, N.Y. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.