NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team suffered a Skyline Conference loss to Farmingdale State College, 80-69, at Max Stern Athletic Center on Saturday evening.

The keys to the game were 16 successful free throw shots for Farmingdale (2-1, 1-0 Skyline) compared to only six made shots from the charity stripe by Yeshiva (2-3, 1-1 Skyline). The Rams were also efficient from the 3-point line, going 8-for-18 (44.4%), while the Maccabees only hit 26.9% of their shot attempts from beyond the arc (7-for-26). Farmingdale also won the rebounding battle, 41-32.

Yeshiva's rookie phenom Zevi Samet led all players with 31 points, while grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out two assists, and registering a pair of steals. Senior Matan Zucker had a near triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Rookie Roy Itcovichi and junior Oren Betesh each scored 10 points, with the former securing a pair of rebounds and delivering an assist, and the latter draining three triples, snatching three boards, distributing an assist, and forcing a steal.

The Maccabees got off to a good start, as a layup from Samet, off a feed from Zucker, put YU up, 15-11, 6:14 into the contest. The Rams took the game over by scoring 11 unanswered points to take a 22-15 hold with 10:46 left to go before the break. Yeshiva played catchup the rest of the half but did get close a few times. The latest was a 3-point field goal from Samet to shrink YU's deficit to 28-26, with 6:29 remaining in the period.

However, Farmingdale was able to build up to a nine-point lead, 37-28, with just under two minutes remaining. Yeshiva did score the final four points of the half, capped off by Zucker converting a layup attempt off a pass from Samet with one tick left on the clock, to send both teams into the locker rooms with the score 37-32 in favor of the Rams.

In the opening minute of the second half, Samet connected on a layup, while being bumped. He added a free throw to complete the three-point play to cut YU's deficit to two, at 37-35. However, Farmingdale got hot from beyond the arc, draining four triples in a span of 2:22, to inflate its benefit to 49-37 with 16:01 remaining in regulation time.

The Maccabees fought back throughout the next 10 minutes, as another successful traditional three-point execution from Samet pulled YU to within six, at 60-54, with 6:06 left to play in the second half. Farmingdale did not allow Yeshiva to get closer and regained control of the game by scoring the next 10 points to put YU in a 16-point hole with 3:56 to go. The final score ended up being 80-69 in favor of the Rams.

For Farmingdale, senior Nick Hurowitz had 21 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.  Junior Jevon Santos had a productive evening with 16 points, seven assists, and three boards. Senior Corey Powell netted 17 points, while junior Jovayne Walters grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.

Yeshiva will battle Purchase College, at Purchase College Gymnasium, on Tuesday evening. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.