PURCHASE, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team broke the game open late to earn a key Skyline road victory over Purchase College, 82-72, at Purchase College Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.

The conference tilt was close for most of the night and featured eight ties and seven lead changes. Purchase (2-3, 0-1 Skyline) had a narrow 61-60 advantage with 7:26 remaining in regulation time, but a 14-2 run by Yeshiva (3-3, 2-1 Skyline) in a span of 4:14 gave the Maccabees a commanding 74-63 hold with 2:48 left to play. That put the game out of reach for the Panthers who never got back into striking distance from that point on.

Leading the way for Yeshiva was junior Oren Betesh who exploded for a career-best 33 points, on 10-for-15 shooting from the field and an 8-for-12 clip from beyond the 3-point line, while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists.

Senior Matan Zucker had another double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while providing five assists, two steals, and a blocked shot.

Rookie Roy Itcovichi netted 13 points, grabbed three boards, had just as many assists, and a block. Freshman Dothan Bardichev netted 10 points, snatched six rebounds, delivered five assists, and forced a steal.

Yeshiva converted 50.0% (26-for-52) of its shots from the field, including 48.1% (13-for-27) of its attempts from downtown. YU's defense held Purchase to just 37.9% shooting from the field (25-for-66) and 35.7% (10-for-28) from beyond the arc. The Macs had the advantage in rebounds, 43-34.

The Maccabees fell behind, 30-22, with 5:12 remaining in the half. Betesh began Yeshiva's turnaround by draining a triple, which sparked an 14-4 run that he capped off with back-to-back 3-point shots to put Yeshiva ahead, 36-34, with 2:05 left before the break.

Yeshiva had the ball in the closing seconds of the stanza, protecting a narrow 37-36 benefit. Betesh found a wide-open Bardichev who shot the ball from beyond the 3-point line, and it swished into the bucket right as the buzzer went off to send the Maccabees into the locker room with a 40-36 advantage.

The Panthers got off to a great start in the second period, outscoring the Macs, 16-7, in the first 8:25 of the final regulation half to take a 53-47 advantage. Later in the stanza, with YU down by a score of 57-52, Betesh once again converted back-to-back triples to put YU back in front, 58-57, with 7:49 remaining in regulation time.

The Panthers scored four of the game's next six points to regain the advantage, 61-60, with 7:26 left to play.

From that point on, Yeshiva took over as a pair of free throws from Zucker gave the Macs the lead for good, 62-61, with 7:02 to go. On Yeshiva's next offensive possession, freshman Daniel Margusov grabbed an offensive rebound and found rookie Jacob Rodin who buried a 3-point field goal to inflate Yeshiva's advantage to 65-61. Zucker drilled another pair of shots from the charity stripe to cap off a 7-0 Blue and White run to extend its lead to 67-62 with 4:54 remaining in the second half.

The Maccabees managed to build their lead to 11 with 2:18 to go. The Panthers did manage to pull to within six with 34 ticks left in the game, but a pair of free throws from Betesh, and then a layup from Zucker, helped Yeshiva close out the game and earn the conference victory by a score of 82-72.

For Yeshiva, sophomore Zevi Samet tallied six points, four rebounds, and an assist. Margusov had four points and six boards. Junior Adi Markovich grabbed a rebound.

For Purchase, senior Mark Morgan had a team-high 22 points. Sophomore Matthew Phillips tallied a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while dishing out four assists.

Yeshiva will host Amherst College, in a key non-conference test, at Max Stern Athletic Center on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.