On Sunday, January 6, the MTA varsity Lions faced off against the Frisch Cougars. This matchup was projected to be an exciting game and the fans were definitely not disappointed. In the beginning minutes of the game, both teams had trouble getting used to the rhythms of their offense, which left the score at the end of the quarter 11-10 in favor of the Cougars. Once the second quarter began, both teams started to heat up, scoring on many of their offensive attempts. The Cougars were led by junior phenom Shmuli Coates’ strong presence inside the paint, where he out-muscled the Lions’ defenders, which led to many points. On the Lions offensive end, they hit many 3 pointers from seniors Eitan Pfeiffer and Eitan Warburg and when the halftime buzzer sounded, the game was still close.

The second half was when the real action took place. Both teams came out ready to play with a strong desire to win. Frisch was led by junior duo Max Zakheim and Coates, while MTA had senior David Saginor leading the way with his lockdown defense and clutch shots. Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Lions held a lead which seemed insurmountable, but Frisch wasn’t ready to give up. When the game came down to the wire, the Frisch splash brothers, Daniel Hirsch and Zakheim, drained four straight 3 pointers to take the lead, which forced the Lions to foul. Unfortunately for MTA, the intentional fouling didn’t help, as Frisch went perfect from the line to seal the win, with a score of 61-54. Though the Lions took the loss, they once again displayed their capability of playing against any team in the league, which is why they are still in the playoff hunt and hungry for opportunities to win.

By Ikey Gutlove (‘20)

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