NEW YORK – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team topped St. Joseph's University Brooklyn, 75-55, at The Hill Center on Tuesday evening.

Impact on the Skyline Standings: Yeshiva (15-9, 12-3 Skyline) remains tied with Farmingdale State College (17-7, 12-3) for first place overall in the league standings. The two teams will battle each other on Saturday night, at Nold Hall Athletic Complex, beginning at 8:30 p.m. The winner of the regular season finale will earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championships, while the team that falls short will be the No. 3 seed.

Big Second Half: The Maccabees trailed the Bears (5-19, 2-13 Skyline) late in the opening half, but YU had a much better second half by outscoring SJUB, 41-22, during the final 20 minutes of the contest.

For Yeshiva: Sophomore guard Zevi Samet netted a team-high 18 points, grabbed three rebounds, and dished out just as many assists. Junior guard Oren Betesh netted 14 points, shooting 3-for-5 from beyond the arc, while registering four rebounds, two assists, and just as many steals. Sophomore guard Max Zakheim produced 11 points, three assists, and two boards. Rookie forward Roy Itcovichi tallied 10 points, five rebounds, and two steals.

How it Happened: Yeshiva got off to a slow start, as they trailed by a score of 30-27 with 3:29 left until the intermission. Samet got Yeshiva going with a jump shot to pull the Macs to within one. After each team exchanged buckets, Betesh provided a successful jumper to give Yeshiva the lead for good at 32-31, with 1:18 left before the break. YU took a 34-33 advantage into the intermission.

Itcovichi opened the second half with a triple to put the Maccabees up, 37-33. Later in the stanza, a 3-point field goal by Zakheim propelled Yeshiva to 12 unanswered points, capped off by a shot from downtown by Itcovichi to give the Maccabees a commanding 63-45 hold with 7:18 to go. The Bears were held scoreless for 6:37 during YU's game-altering run. The Maccabees eventually built their lead to 23 before coming away with the 75-55 victory.

Contributing for YU: Senior forward Matan Zucker had an outstanding game with nine points, just as many rebounds, four steals, and two assists. Junior guard Adi Markovich produced six points, four assists, and a pair of steals.

For St. Joseph's Brooklyn: Senior guard Evan Sirakis led all players with 19 points. Classmate Anderson Beltre generated 12 points, six boards, and three assists, while senior forward Joe Sheehan had 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Big Game on Saturday Night: Check out YUmacs.com, as well as our social media channels, for all the latest updates regarding Saturday night's battle for the regular season championship between Yeshiva and Farmingdale State.