On Monday night, December 6th, the Yeshiva Maccabees will travel to Brooklyn to face off against the Brooklyn College Bulldogs. The Macs enter tonight’s game with a perfect record after 10 games and an average scoring margin of 30.5 points per game, good enough to rank second in all of Division Three. The Bulldogs have started the season off slowly, going 1-7 in their first 8 games. They are going to need big games from senior guard Noah Shy who is averaging 14.3 points per game and sophomore forward Elisha Park who provides versatility as a big man on a very undersized Brooklyn roster. The last time these two teams faced off was in 2019 when the Macs beat the Bulldogs by a score of 98-74. The two leading scorers for the Macs in that game, Ryan Turell (25 points) and Gabe Leifer (23 points) are still on the squad this time around. If Brooklyn wants to pull of an upset against the #1 ranked team in the country, they are going to have to find a way to slow those guys down.
Keys to the game:
Starting out strong:
The only flaw for the Macs this season has been starting games slowly. Going into the last game, the Macs had only scored above 40 first-half points in one of their previous six games. Not only did they score 40 against Old Westbury, they broke out for a whopping 59 first-half points. Putting up a lot of points early will put away a Brooklyn team that struggles to put the ball in the basket, averaging just 59.1 points per game.
Size Advantage:
Brooklyn College likes to play small ball. Three of their starters are 6’1” and under, including point guard Zuric Harvey at 5’8”. Not only are the guards small, the big men for the Bulldogs are all just 6’4” or 6’5”. Jordan Armstrong and Gabe Leifer should have a field day in the paint for the Macs. In their game Saturday night, the Macs pounded 62 points in the paint and snatched 42 rebounds. Expect some of those same numbers against Brooklyn.
Foul-free defense:
Brooklyn College has shot just 34% from the field and an abysmal 27% from beyond the arc this season. It’s tough for this team to find ways to score, especially against a bigger defense, but the one way they can get it done is from the free throw line. The Macs must play sound, foul-free defense and force the Bulldogs to take shots that they haven’t been able to hit all season.
How to Watch:
Tip off will be at the West Quad Center in Brooklyn at 7:00pm. Follow the action here.
MacsLive:
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