The Macs wasted no time getting their high-powered offense going as they took the lead four seconds in and never looked back in a dominating win at home over the Old Westbury Panthers on Saturday night. The Macs showed why they are the top ranked team in the nation, as they continued to shoot the three ball at a high clip, and gave their opponent a tough time trying to score on the other end. Coming off his record-breaking 51 point performance last Sunday, Ryan Turell got the crowd going with a thunderous putback jam in the opening minute and paced the team with 28 points as he led the Macs to their 46th consecutive win.
How it Happened:
Ofek Reef converted a tough and-one layup four seconds into the game, followed by the Ryan Turell putback dunk on the next possession to give the Macs a quick 5-0 lead.
Eitan Halpert knocked down two straight threes to put the Macs up 15-5.
The teams traded buckets as the Panthers’ Carl Damour scored 2 of his team-leading 19 points to cut the Macs lead to 15 with 5:49 left in the first half.
Reef stole the ball and threw down a thunderous dunk with 3:22 left.
The Macs finished off the half with a beautiful passing display leading to a Gabe Leifer dunk just before the horn.
Ryan Turell started the second half strong with an and-one dunk to give the Macs a 61-32 lead.
Halpert hit three straight three point attempts, the last of which put the Macs up 34 with 12 minutes remaining in the game.
Matan Zucker grabbed the offensive rebound after a missed free throw and got the layup to go to put the Macs over the century mark with 4:44 left and put an exclamation point on the victory.
Hot start:
Known thus far this season as a “second half team,” the Macs came out ready to play, putting up a whopping 59 points in the first half, providing themselves a comfortable cushion the rest of the way. Unlike many of their previous games, the Macs offense clicked immediately in the first 20 minutes of the game, and they were able to separate themselves from the Panthers early on tonight.
Three Point Shooting:
Eitan Halpert’s injured shoulder seemed to hold up just fine, as he shot an unbelievable 8-for-10 from downtown, hitting both open and contested looks all night. As the game went on, his teammates kept creating open looks for him and he came through with a great performance. As a team, the Macs shot just under 50%, and when they’re hitting threes at that kind of rate, they are very difficult to beat.
Defensive Performance:
The Macs have proven all season that they are not afraid to poke for steals and jump for blocks and they continued their defensive dominance in this one. With 15 steals — including six by Reef — and five blocks, the Macs made it very hard on Old Westbury to set up their offense and get consistent good looks.
For Old Westbury (4-4, 0-2):
Carl Damour put up a great effort, scoring 19 points as he tried to keep the Panthers in it.
Zach Cummings scored 13 and led Old Westbury with 4 assists.
Charles Wingate and Jordan Johnson-Rader scored 11 apiece.
For Yeshiva (9-0,6-0):
Ryan Turell led the Macs with 28 points, along with 12 rebounds and 4 assists.
Eitan Halpert shot the lights out of the building, scoring 24 on 8-10 shooting from behind the arc.
Ofek Reef continued his hot offensive start, finishing with 20 points.
Up Next:
The Macs head down to Brooklyn to face Brooklyn College on Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7PM.
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