WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with a hard-fought loss to nationally ranked No. 13 University of Saint Joseph (Conn.), 69-60, at the O'Connell Center on Wednesday evening.

Rookie Zevi Samet had a solid collegiate debut for the Maccabees (0-1), scoring 17 points, including five 3-point baskets, while grabbing five rebounds. Freshman Daniel Margusov scored 16 points off the bench and brought down six boards. Newcomer Roy Itcovichi also had a solid debut at the college level for YU, scoring seven points, dishing out five assists, and grabbing four rebounds. Senior Matan Zucker provided Yeshiva with five points, eight caroms, and a pair of assists.

The Macs got off to a hot start as Itcovichi and Samet connected on back-to-back shots from downtown to give Yeshiva a 6-0 advantage. A few possessions later, sophomore Max Zakheim drilled a jump shot off a fast break to inflate Yeshiva's lead to 10-3, just 2:50 into the contest.

Saint Joseph (1-0) chipped away and eventually cut YU's benefit to 14-11. Yeshiva answered right back as junior Oren Betesh took a feed from Zucker and nailed a shot from beyond the arc to extend the Macs' lead to 17-11 with 12:36 left to play. After a pair of free throws pulled the Blue Jays to within four, Betesh connected again from downtown to extend the Maccabees' advantage to 20-13 with 12:07 to go in the first stanza.

Later in the period, Saint Joseph shrunk the Blue and White's edge to 24-20. Samet gave Yeshiva the momentum back by draining a 3-point field goal to put the Macs back up by seven, with 5:51 left to play in the half. From that point on. Saint Joseph took over by finishing the first half on a 16-2 run, capped off by a 3-pointer from graduate student Ryan O'Neill with 36 seconds left, to send the home team to the break with a 36-29 hold.

Samet opened the second half by connecting on yet another shot from downtown to pull the Macs to within four, just 1:12 into the final period of regulation time. However, the Blue Jays went on another run and built their lead up to 15, at 64-49, with 8:37 left to play. Yeshiva battled back as two layups from Zucker, and a 3-point shot by Samet, shrunk YU's deficit to 64-56 with 3:23 remaining in regulation time. Saint Joseph scored the next five points to go back up by 13. Yeshiva finished the game strong by scoring the final four points of the contest, but it would not be enough as Saint Joseph went on to earn the season-opening victory.

For the Maccabees, senior Zachary Muller netted five points and grabbed two rebounds. Rookie Jacob Rodin had two points and a carom. Senior Ryan Bokor generated two blocked shots, a pair of assists, a steal, and a rebound. Junior Adi Markovich added an assist of his own.

For the Blue Jays, O'Neill had a game-high 18 points with four rebounds and a pair of assists. Senior Tyree Mitchell provided 14 points and a pair of rebounds.

Yeshiva will compete in the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University, this weekend. The Maccabees will take on the host and nationally ranked No. 21 Titans on Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern time. Yeshiva will then play in either the championship game or the consolation contest on Sunday afternoon.