NEW YORK – The nationally ranked No. 20 Yeshiva University men's basketball team defeated sixth-seeded Purchase College, in the quarterfinal round of the Skyline Conference Championships at Max Stern Athletic Center, by a score of 101-66 on Tuesday evening. Thanks to #7 Mount Saint Vincent's upset victory over #2 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, the third-seeded Macs will host the Dolphins in a Skyline Semifinal matchup, at Max Stern Athletic Center, on Thursday at 8:00 p.m.

History was made during the Skyline Quarterfinal contest as graduate student Gabriel Leifer became the program's all-time leading rebounder, surpassing YU Hall of Famer David Kufeld ('80) who snatched 1,222 career rebounds. Thanks to his seven-rebound night, Leifer now has 1,225 boards in his illustrious career.

"It was a big win, but we are moving on to Thursday," Leifer said. "A lot of unfinished business but let's win the day on Thursday."

For the game, Leifer finished with 21 points, five assists, and five blocked shots. He clinched his spot at No. 1 on the YU Men's Basketball All-Time Rebounding List by grabbing the defensive board 28 seconds into the second half. "It's a great honor and I'm glad we play enough meaningful games to allow me to get there," Leifer said when asked about his rebounding milestone.

Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz had strong words to say about Leifer. "We recruited Gabe because we felt he was a program changer. And he changed our program," Steinmetz said. "I'm proud of his accomplishments even through he likely doesn't care about them."

Yeshiva shot 59.4% from the floor during the game, while holding Purchase to just 33.8% shooting overall.

"Good effort by our guys tonight to handle a tough opponent and keep them out of the game most of the night," Steinmetz said. 

Senior Ryan Turell had another strong game as he led all players with 29 points, on 11-for-16 shooting, while grabbing three rebounds. Classmate Eitan Halpert had another hot shooting night by going 5-for-8 from 3-point range and scoring 13 points. The Los Angeles native also secured four rebounds. Junior Ofek Reef had a perfect shooting night, going 5-for-5 from the floor, and draining both of his free throw attempts, for 12 points.

The Maccabees got off to a slow start as senior Malcolm Hansford-Whyte connected on a jump shot to give Purchase a 16-12 advantage with 13:24 remaining in the opening half. However, the Maccabees took over the momentum by scoring seven unanswered points to take the lead for good. The highlight of YU's game-alerting blitz was graduate student Ethan Lasko converting a layup, while being fouled, to tie the game at 16. He added the shot from the charity stripe give the Macs a lead they would not surrender for the remainder of the game, with 12:14 remaining in the opening half. The Macs' 7-0 run was capped off when Leifer secured a carom and threw an outlet pass to Turell, who dribbled down the court and dunked the ball into the hoop to bring the raucous Max Stern Athletic Center crowd to their feet and give Yeshiva a 21-16 hold with 11:04 to go until the break.

Later in the stanza, junior Terence Mason converted a layup for Purchase to slice YU's benefit to 36-30 with 3:37 remaining in the period. However, Yeshiva finished the half strong by outscoring the opposition, 10-3, in the final 3:17 of the first frame to take a commanding 46-33 hold into the intermission.

The Maccabees inflated its lead for the majority of the second half on their way to the conference quarterfinal victory.

For the Maccabees, junior Matan Zucker had eight points and four rebounds. Lasko finished with five points, just as many assists, and three boards. Graduate student Jordan Armstrong had four points and four rebounds, while sophomore Adi Markovich grabbed four caroms and dished out three assists.

For Purchase, Whyte-Hansford finished with team-highs of 16 points and seven rebounds.

Be sure to check out YUmacs.com, as well as our social media channels, for information regarding tickets to Thursday's conference semifinal game between Yeshiva and Mount Saint Vincent. Updates throughout the Macs' run in the Skyline Championships will also be provided.