On Tuesday night, January 31st, the Yeshiva University Maccabees will host the Sarah Lawrence College Gryphons. Yeshiva is 10-9 on the season and 7-3 in conference play so far. The upcoming two-game stretch screams “trap game” for the Macs. They will play two of the weaker teams in the conference and it’s crucial for them not to just win these games, but to put these teams away early and gain a sense of confidence and swagger heading into a stretch of tough games to end the season. It’s extremely important to get Oren Betesh more shots than he’s been getting recently. He’s playing the same minutes as earlier in the season but has seen fewer and fewer touches as the season has developed. The main part of his game is scoring and without that, his minutes aren’t nearly as productive or valuable. That being said, Max Zakheim, who is probably the cause of Betesh’s decrease in involvement on offense, has been hitting his stride, averaging 21.8 points per game in his last five. He’s firmly established himself as the team’s second-best offensive player behind Zevi Samet. These upcoming games are a great opportunity for Coach Steinmetz to figure out a way to get the most out of both Betesh and Zakheim within the offensive system.
The Gryphons are 5-14 on the season and 3-7 in conference play. It has been a bit of a rough season for this team, as shown by their not-so-great record. They really struggle with playing efficient basketball. As a team, they have shot 38% from the field, 32% from three, and an abysmal 59% from the free throw line this year. They also turn the ball over 17.1 times per contest, which is hard to overcome for any team, let alone a team that can’t put the ball in the basket. With that being said, this team doesn’t just fold and hand over games to their opponents. They play hard and will force you to play a complete game in order to beat them. Seven of their losses this year have been very close games that came down to the wire. If a few of those games swung their way, their record and season outlook would look completely different. In order to win this one, they must control the pace of play and try to limit the Macs' dynamic offense.
How to Watch:
Tip-off is scheduled for 8 pm. Watch the game live here.
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