NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team dropped its non-conference matchup to Tufts University, 75-64, at Max Stern Athletic Center on Thursday evening. Yeshiva (8-7) has now gone winless in three games, while Tufts (9-2) secures its third victory in a row.

It came down to shooting as the Jumbos converted 52.6% (30-for-57) of their shots from the field, while the Maccabees only nailed 34.4% (21-for-61) of their shot attempts. Tufts also had the heavy advantage on the glass, outrebounding Yeshiva by a 50-26 margin.

Yeshiva jumped out to the lead on four separate occasions during the early stages of the contest, but a 9-1 run by Tufts put them in front, 16-9, with 11:29 remaining in the opening half. During the Jumbos' momentum-shifting surge, the Macs were held to without a field goal for 7:26.

Senior forward Matan Zucker ended Yeshiva's drought from the floor by converting a layup to slice YU's disadvantage to 16-13. After a layup by sophomore forward Bobby Stewart put Tufts back up by five, sophomore guard Max Zakheim got Yeshiva closer, as he took a feed from rookie forward Roy Itcovichi and drained a triple to cut the opposition's lead to 18-16, with 6:54 left to play in the half.

Tufts once again pulled away by scoring 10 unanswered points to build a 28-16 hold with 3:58 to go in the opening period. After YU pulled to within 10, Itcovichi forced a steal. Later in YU's possession, Samet converted a layup, while getting bumped. He added the free throw to complete the traditional three-point play and narrow the Jumbos' advantage to 28-21 with 3:04 left before the break. Tufts closed out the stanza with a 6-2 run to take a 34-23 benefit into the intermission.

Yeshiva came storming out of the gate in the second half, scoring seven straight points in just 1:28 to pull to within four. After the Jumbos nailed two free throws, the Macs continued their surge as Samet connected on a layup to shrink YU's disadvantage to 36-32, less than two minutes into the final regulation period.

After Yeshiva forced a stop, Zakheim drew a foul and then connected on a pair of shots from the charity stripe to narrow Tufts' lead to 36-34. Over a minute later, Zucker kicked the ball out to Zakheim who drained a key triple that propelled the Maccabees to the lead, 37-36, with 16:14 remaining in regulation time, much to the delight of the Macs faithful.

Tufts regained a one-point lead and then got the ball back. However, Zakheim collected a steal, drove down the lane, and executed a layup off the fast break to allow the Macs to regain their one-point benefit, 39-38, with 15:23 remaining.

The Jumbos responded as a layup by junior guard Casey McLaren gave his team the lead for good at 40-39, with 15:15 left to play. That began a game-altering 14-2 run by the Jumbos which gave them a commanding 52-41 hold with 8:46 to go in regulation.

Yeshiva pulled to within single digits a couple more times but could not generate a consistent run to get back into the game. Tufts build its lead to as many as 16 before earning the 75-64 victory.

For the Maccabees, Zakheim scored a game-high 24 points. on 6-for-11 shooting from the field, and converted 10 free throws out of 13 attempts. He also grabbed four rebounds. Samet generated 20 points, two boards, and just as many steals. Itcovichi added nine points, while Zucker netted six points, grabbed five rebounds, forced four steals, blocked a shot, and delivered an assist.

The Jumbos had four different players reach double figures in scoring, including 12 points from rookie guard James Morakis, who also brought down five rebounds, off the bench. Sophomore forward Trumann Gettings had a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, while also dishing out a pair of assists.

Yeshiva will be back in action on Wednesday, January 18, for another New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) matchup, this time against Wesleyan University. Tipoff at Silloway Gymnasium is set for 7:30 p.m.