Macs Open Basketball Season; Lose First Three Games
The Yeshiva University Maccabees began their men’s basketball season with three consecutive losses, starting with an 81–77 defeat to Chapman University on Wednesday, Nov. 12, followed by road losses to Randolph-Macon College and the University of Mary Washington.
In the season opener at the Max Stern Athletic Center, the Macs, who won the Skyline Conference Championship last year, started Dothan Bardichev, Yair Dovrat, Yoav Oselka, Zevi Samet and Or Sundjyvsky. Samet led with 34 points, while Oselka had 14 and Dovrat had 13. More than 350 fans attended.
Chapman, which competes in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, was led by Cruz Billings with 17 points and Jake Heberle with 16. The game was tied at 35 at halftime, but Chapman outscored the Macs 46-42 in the second half. The Panthers also scored 36 points off the bench to the Macs’ 11. According to MacsLive, YU’s 63.2% free-throw shooting proved costly.
Macs forward Alex Kirievsky (SSSB ‘29), who logged 18 minutes of gametime off the bench in his collegiate debut, told The Commentator that the energy inside the Max Stern Athletic Center was “electric.”
“I felt great. The atmosphere was electric,” Kirievsky told The Commentator. “Very loud and lots of energy. [It was the] biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of in my whole life. Scoring my first points for YU in front of the home crowd felt really special.”
Benji Gardin (YC ‘28), who attended the opener, complimented guard Nate Jacobs’ performance.
“It was an electric atmosphere and game,” he said. “It was really nice to see Nate Jacobs play very well in his first game.” Jacobs scored 8 points on a perfect 4–4 shooting performance.
On Saturday night, Nov. 15, the Macs traveled to Ashland, Virginia, where they lost 92–57 to Randolph-Macon College — ranked #2 nationally by D3hoops.com. The Macs were down by 11 points at halftime and were outscored by 24 points in the second half. Sundjyvsky led the Macs with 13 points on 4–7 shooting, but the team shot just 18.2% from three and 56.3% from the line. Randolph-Macon’s Malcolm Hodges scored 15 points in 18 minutes, and the Yellow Jackets shot 57.4% from the field.
The next day, YU lost 90-89 in double-overtime to #15 University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Va. Samet scored 39 points, but the Eagles mounted a comeback behind guard Kye Robinson’s 38-point performance, including the game-winning shot with 0.8 seconds left in the second overtime. The Macs had led by 14 points in the first half and 6 points with under 15 seconds remaining in regulation.
The Macs will play the #1-ranked Trinity College at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Nov. 20.
Photo Caption: YU Maccabees
Photo Credit: Akiva Poppers / MacsLive
