Men’s Basketball Advances to Second Consecutive Skyline Championship
The no. 2 seed men’s basketball team advanced to the Skyline Conference Championship with a commanding 103-70 victory over the no. 3 Old Westbury Panthers on Friday, Feb. 22. This marks the second consecutive year in which the Maccabees have earned a spot in the championship.
The Macs dominated the first half of play and went into halftime with a commanding 55-26 lead.
Gabe Leifer accomplished a double-double in the first half alone with 17 points (including three 3-pointers) and 14 rebounds. Additionally, Simcha Halpert went 4 for 7 from behind the arc and scored a field goal for 14 points after 20 minutes.
YU never looked back and led for the entire duration of the game with the largest lead of 37 points coming with five minutes remaining in the second half. Leifer finished the game with 31 points (7 for 10 from 3 point range), 18 rebounds and 7 assists. Ryan Turrell also significantly contributed with 29 total points.
In a postgame interview with MacsLive, the official streaming service for YU Athletics, Leifer said, “we’re going to enjoy Shabbos, and we’re going to worry about it after and do whatever we need to do to win,” when asked how the team will be preparing for the championship.
In the championship, the Macs will play the Farmingdale State College Rams (no. 1 seed) at the Nold Athletic Complex in Farmingdale, NY. The Maccabees split their regular season matchups with Farmingdale, beating the Rams 88-83 on the road in December, but losing 98-96 at home last week.
The championship will be this Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1:00 p.m.
This article has been updated since original publication.
Photo Caption: 2018-2019 Men's Basketball Team
Photo Credit: YUMacs.com
