PURCHASE, N.Y. – The No. 3-seed Yeshiva University men's basketball team had its impressive season end, on Thursday night, thanks to a 71-57 defeat at the hands of second-seeded Manhattanville College at Kennedy Gymnasium. The Valiants (21-6) will play for the league championship and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, on Saturday, against the winner of the conference's other semifinal game between No. 4-seed Maritime College and top-seeded Farmingdale State College.

It was an incredible season for the Maccabees (16-10), who secured the No. 3 seed in the Skyline standings with a 12-3 record in conference play, and won a playoff game to earn a berth in the league semifinal round despite 10 out of the 16 players on the team being rookies.

It came down to shooting as Manhattanville shot 46.4% (26-for-56) from the floor compared to 36.2% (21-for-58) shooting by Yeshiva.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was senior forward Matan Zucker who produced a double-double with 11 points and just as many rebounds, while forcing two steals. Sophomores Zevi Samet and Max Zakheim each netted 15 points, with the former recording five rebounds and two steals, while the latter snatched three caroms. Rookie forward Roy Itcovichi provided 12 points, three boards, and two assists.

Yeshiva got off to a good start, as junior guard Oren Betesh nailed an off-balance jumper, while being bumped, to give the Maccabees a 5-2 edge, 2:53 into the contest. He added the shot from the charity stripe to complete the traditional three-point play. But Manhattanville snatched momentum by going on a 15-4 surge overall, including seven straight points at the end of it, capped off by a layup from sophomore guard Andrew Saint-Louis to give the home team a 17-10 benefit with 10:43 to go in the opening half. Zucker got his team back on track by draining a free throw to narrow YU's deficit to six.

The Valiants continued to surge and build their lead as a triple by Saint-Louis inflated the home team's advantage to 24-13 with 6:49 to go in the opening period. Later in the stanza, a pair of free throws courtesy of senior guard Tommy Lotito gave Manhattanville its largest lead of the half, at 28-15, with 5:39 left before the break.

The Maccabees would not go down without a fight, as a triple from Samet began a run of 10 straight points for Yeshiva. Zucker capped it off by grabbing an offensive rebound and chucking the ball up and into the basket, while being fouled deep inside the paint. He added the free throw to narrow YU's deficit to 28-23 with 3:52 to go.

The Valiants finished the first half strong by outscoring Yeshiva, 5-2, during the remaining 3:39 to take a 33-25 benefit into the intermission.

Yeshiva inched closer in the early stages of the second half, as a jumper by Samet narrowed YU's deficit to 40-34. However, a 10-2 run by the Valiants, capped off by a layup from Saint-Louis, gave the home team a commanding at 52-36 hold with 12:20 to go in regulation time.

Yeshiva was not done yet as a little while later, Itcovichi converted a layup off the pass from Samet to conclude a 6-0 YU run and pull to within 60-50 with 5:50 left to play. Unfortunately for the Macs, that would be as close as they would get as they could not sustain a rally big enough to get to within striking distance as Manhattanville went on to punch its ticket to the Skyline Championship game with the 71-57 victory.

For the Valiants, Lotito led all players with 23 points and produced eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Senior forward Jackson Leech poured on 17 points, gathered seven boards, and provided a trio of assists. Classmate Ryan Giordano scored 10 points and snatched six caroms.

The Maccabees will return to the court in November of 2023.