(yumacs.com) The Yeshiva University men’s basketball team earned its first victory of the season, on the second day of the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational, by defeating Webster University, 75-58, at Shirk Center on Sunday afternoon. Yeshiva (1-2) earned third place in the tournament.
The Maccabees fell behind by 13 in the early stages of the game but battled back to take a two-point lead at the half, and then outscored the opposition, 47-32, in the final 20 minutes of play.
Sophomore Zevi Samet was named to the Sikma Hall of Fame Invitational All-Tournament Team. He led the Maccabees to the win over the Gorloks (0-3) by scoring 23 points, shooting 7-for-13 from beyond the arc in the process, while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out an assist.
Also leading the way for the Maccabees was junior Oren Betesh, who drained seven 3-point field goals out of 11 attempts for 21 points off the bench. One of those shots from beyond the arc occurred at the buzzer to close out the first half which gave Yeshiva its first lead of the game, 28-26, after trailing 19-6 earlier in the contest. Betesh also delivered four assists.
Senior Matan Zucker recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 12 assists, and 11 rebounds. Rookie Roy Itcovichi netted 10 points, grabbed six boards, and dished out a pair of assists.
“It was a special weekend for our guys,” Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz said. “A great opportunity to bond and at the same time see really tough non-conference competition. The relationships we have built with the Illinois Wesleyan family are extremely special and the lessons we learned as a basketball team are invaluable.”
The Maccabees got off to a sluggish start, falling behind 9-0, 4:24 into the contest. Itcovichi put Yeshiva on the board thanks to a jump shot, with 14:58 left to play in the half. However, Webster built a 19-6 hold with 10:08 remaining in the opening period.
Then, the Maccabees tilted the momentum into their favor by scoring the next 11 points, capped off by a 3-point field goal courtesy of Samet, to slice Webster’s advantage to 19-17, with 5:05 left to play in the half. The Macs held the Gorloks scoreless for 5:32 during that stretch.
Later in the period, after Webster rebuilt its lead 24-19, Zucker converted a layup to shrink the Macs’ deficit to three. After YU’s defense forced a turnover, Itcovichi successfully executed a turnaround jump shot to pull the Blue and White to within one, at 24-23, with 2:44 left before the break.
After each team exchanged successful jump shots just outside the paint, the Maccabees gained possession of the ball with 12 seconds to go. With the clock ticking down to one, Zucker found a wide-open Betesh who buried a triple just as the buzzer sounded to give the Macs their first lead of the game, 28-26, at the intermission.
YU’s strong end to the first half carried over into the second half as a jumper by Zucker gave the Maccabees a 35-30 benefit, with 16:46 left to play in regulation time. Webster tilted momentum back into its favor by going on an 8-2 run to jump back in front, 38-37, with 14:07 left on the clock.
Yeshiva quickly answered as a 3-point shot by Betesh put Yeshiva in the lead again, 40-38. That began an 8-0 YU run, capped off by a triple from Samet, to give Yeshiva a 45-38 hold with 12:20 remaining. The Maccabees continued to build their lead over the next several minutes as a layup from rookie Dothan Bardichev put YU up by double digits, at 56-46, with 7:52 to go. Senior Gabriel Landau followed with a 3-point basket to make it 59-46 in favor of YU, with 7:22 left.
With 6:29 to go, Betesh drained another 3-point jump shot to give the Maccabees a commanding 62-48 hold with 6:29 remaining. Yeshiva led by as many as 21 before earning the 75-58 victory.
For the Maccabees, Landau grabbed five rebounds, while Bardichev generated four assists, three boards, a block and a steal. Junior Adi Markovich produced two boards and a steal. Newcomer Elie Ibgui brought down a rebound.
