MacsLive Reporting Services (New York, NY)

    A strong performance on both sides of the court by Adin Liss helped the #17 Maimonides M-Cats beat the #16 seed Yeshiva of Virginia Raiders in what was the Raiders’ first Sarachek game ever. Thanks to Liss, the M-Cats built a 9-point lead in the third quarter and never looked back en route to a 46-41 win.  The lead established by the M-Cats in the penultimate quarter came via the strong play of the Pollack brothers, Yoel and Menachem.

    The Raiders from Richmond made a few runs in the second half to significantly cut down the lead. Shmuel Glickman, who got in foul trouble early in the first half, returned to the lineup and immediately went to work, crashing the boards, and drawing Maimo defenders into the paint. Unfortunately for the Raiders, their guards were not able to capitalize, as Yoni Lewis and David Press missed too many three-point attempts. The biggest surprise in the second half was Liss. Known for his good shooting, he gave the M-Cats a huge boost by limiting Glickman for most of the third quarter.

    The second quarter featured strong play from Virginia’s Yoni Lewis, who had 14 points in the first half, and who helped maintain a lead for the Raiders until the 3:20 mark when Maimonides took their first lead of the game. Strong shooting from Lewis and good perimeter defense by the Raiders made it very difficult for Maimonides to get going in the first quarter.

Yoni Lewis led all scorers in the game with 23 points, while the M-Cats had a very balanced attack with no real go-to-guy on offense.

Maimonides will advance to the Tier II quarterfinals while the Raiders will continue on to the Tier IV semifinals on Saturday night.  Coverage for all games being played in the Max Stern Athletic Stern will be covered with audio, video, and all the news you could ask for can be found with MacsLive at www.macslive.com