Macs Defeat Springfield in First Home Game of the Season

The Yeshiva University Maccabees defeated the visiting Springfield Pride 78-65 in their first home game of the season at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Tuesday. 

The game, the third of the season, comes following a 20 point loss to The College of Wooster in Ohio Nov. 10 and a victory against University of Mount Union on Nov. 8.

The game started off strong for the Macs, as they scored 11 unanswered points early in the first half. That streak came to an end after Springfield stole the ball in the paint and drove it down to score their first basket of the night. “We played great off the start,” Zevi Samet (YC ‘26), the Macs’ shooting guard, told the Commentator. “And then it became a little choppy.”

By halftime Springfield had managed to narrow the Macs lead down to only 35-29. As the second half started, Springfield threatened the Macs lead, tying the game at 37 points and once more at 42 points. 

“Springfield made some adjustments to the way we were playing,” explained Yosef Silver (SSSB ‘24), an announcer for Macs Live, “then we were able to counteract that.”

Both defenses had been giving each other trouble the entire night. The score stalled at 42-42 for several possessions as the Macs and Springfield went back and forth trying to get points on the board.

With just about 14 minutes left, Samet rebounded the ball off a missed Springfield layup. He quickly came down court trying to find a lane, but Springfield locked him down in the corner. He looked for an open man and found Dothan Bardichev (YC ‘26), the 6 feet 6 inches forward, waiting in the wing. Bardichev, having no room to maneuver, passed the ball to Max Zakheim (SSSB ‘25), the 6 feet guard from Bergenfield, New Jersey. A Springfield player pounced, forcing Zakheim to send the ball back to Bardichev. Under pressure and with the hand of a Springfield player in his face Bardichev took the shot.

The crowd erupted as the ball fell through the basket. After this, the Macs took hold of the lead and never let go.

Bardichev was five for nine on attempts at the three point line and finished the game with a statline of 19 points, eight assists and four rebounds. He credits his performance to the 5:20 a.m. practices he had with fellow teammate Hillel Baynash (SSSB ‘26) during the offseason.

“This is what we worked for this whole summer,” he said in a post-game interview with MacsLive. 

He wasn’t the only Mac who had a strong performance. Zakheim ended the night with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Samet also had 15 points and seven rebounds, while Or Sundjyvsky (SSSB ‘26) scored 15 points and led the team with four steals.

“Everyone did their part to help us pull away with our first home game win,” Samet told The Commentator. 

Silver told The Commentator that the strong showing across the board bodes well for the rest of the season. “Very often when we’re stuck we wind up relying on Zevi or Max to bail us out of tough situations,” he said. “The main takeaways from tonight was that Dothan and Or stepped up and they were able to be very bright spots for the team tonight. It’s good looking forward that the team has multiple players they can rely on in tough situations.”

The Macs hope to carry on the momentum Sunday against the Oglethorpe University Stormy Petrels at home in the Max Stern Athletics Center.

———

Photo Caption: The Macs at a game last season

Photo Credit: Andrew Rosenfeld