“SKY-MAC”: YESHIVA HANDLES MOUNT SAINT MARY’S TO IMPROVE TO 5-0 IN CONFERENCE PLAY:

On Saturday night at the Max Stern Athletic Center, Yeshiva came out strong and never looked back. The Maccabees, who played their most consistent game of the year, defeated the Mount Saint Mary Knights by a final of 89-60 to improve to 6-7 overall and an impressive 5-0 in Skyline Conference play. A balanced attack was the key to victory in this one, as every Mac, bar two, got on the score sheet with a bucket. Yoav Oselka led the way with 16 points and 5 steals. Those steals were generated by a hounding Yeshiva defense all night long, which made MSMC extremely uncomfortable. This game was never in the balance, nor was it ever a nail-biter; the Macs got out ahead and never took their foot on the gas, leading to a nice, calm victory at home. 

Yoav Oselka and the Macs took care of business against Mount Sant Mary 89-60 on Saturday night, improving to 5-0 in Conference play. (Yeshiva Athletics)

How It Happened: 

• Yeshiva came out scalding hot: in their first possession, Zevi Samet, who finished with 8 points and 2 steals in just 18 minutes, nailed a corner three. The next possession was a carbon copy of the first, ending with a Samet corner triple yet again. Knights’ Head Coach Kadlubowski called an immediate timeout, clearly unhappy with his team for allowing one of the greatest shooters in the country back-to-back clean looks. After the timeout, a steal and lay-up for Max Zakheim followed by an alley-oop feed finished by Yair Dovrat marked a 10-0 run to start the game.

• Mount Saint Mary started throwing up three-pointers to try to cut into their lead, and at the start, some of those shots were falling. The Knights managed to cut the lead to 17-13, but that’s as close as they got all night. Yeshiva was able to pull away thanks to 25 turnovers forced. The Macs didn’t allow the opponent any rhythm on the offensive side of the floor, and those turnovers led to fast break points left and right as the Yeshiva lead grew. 

• The Macs played one of their best and most consistent halves thus far and through twenty minutes, they led 43-26. 

• Not surprisingly, Mount Saint Mary came out with a burst in the second half, looking to get themselves back in the game. The Knights were able to put the ball in the basket early in the second, but so could the Macs. Yeshiva gave up a bit defensively, but they managed to trade buckets, something they were definitely fine with while holding a large lead. 

• At the halfway mark, the Macs started to really pull away as they led 68-43 with 10:10 to go. 

• Roy Itcovichi throwed down a ferocious dunk, igniting the crowd and it was smooth sailing from there. 

• This blowout gave opportunities to guys at the end of the bench to play. One of the Macs who showed up when given his opportunity was Noam Edri. Edri, in just 10 minutes of action, netted 11 points and joined the turnover party with a steal. 

• Coach Kadlubowski decided to empty his bench as well as the lead reached 30, signaling he was packing this one in.

• All but two Macs scored in this one, and when the final buzzer sounded, Yeshiva had a well-earned and comfortable 89-60 victory.

“GO JOE”:

Freshman Joe Schanzer of Yeshiva has been grinding in practice all season and he got a chance tonight to play some extended minutes. Schanzer played 18 minutes and picked up 4 steals and 3 assists. What made this game even special for Schanzer was that his family was in attendance, including his sister, who Schanzer said can’t make it to many games. His family gave him a boost, Schanzer said, and he was happy to make them proud. It was a great performance for Joe Schanzer, as he hopes to have caught Coach Steinmetz’s eye. 

IT’S “GO TIME”: 

A quick glance at Yeshiva’s upcoming schedule would certainly grab your attention. Including tonight, the Macs are playing four games this week, with the next one being Monday night. The season is nearing “go time”- a period where the Macs need to stack wins together against their conference opponents to give them the best shot at making the NCAA Tournament. The Macs schedule is stacked with games close to each other, and grabbing as many wins as possible will be paramount. Tonight’s blow out game against Mount Saint Mary will do the Macs starters wonders, as they were able to rest and let the other guys handle duties for the evening. The Macs better rest up and prepare to play a lot of basketball down the stretch, because we are approaching “go time” and it’s about to get exciting. 

Stats: 

• Yoav Oselka was Yeshiva’s point leader, finishing the night with 16 points and an impressive 5 steals

• Yair Dovrat added 14 points and led the Macs with 5 assists

• Off the bench Joe Schanzer and Noam Edri racked up 12 and 11 points, respectively, and while not scoring Dothan Bardichev dished out 4 assists, proving to all of the children in attendance that sharing is caring

Up Next: 

Yeshiva will head to Connecticut to play Wesleyan University on Monday. They will then return home to face Purchase and St. Joseph’s Brooklyn on Wednesday and Saturday night.