This past Monday evening, the MTA varsity Lions basketball team faced off against the Flatbush Falcons. The Lions were looking for their first home win of the season, while the Falcons were looking for their first victory. This was a definite must-win game for both teams.

In the first quarter, the Falcons decided to slow down the tempo resulting in the Lions being able to set up their defense properly and when the shot went up, the Lions had the ability to control the paint and grab every rebound. Offensively, the Lions used their size, most notably from center Tani Engel, who was able to back down his opponent, leading to many easy baskets or open cuts from teammates Akiva Coan, Azi Goldberg and Elie Goldberg.

This style of play continued into the second quarter, giving MTA the lead at halftime.

Coming out of the half, the Lions continued to control the paint leading to many second chance opportunities from Mendel Hein and Ikey Gutlove. In addition, the Lions came out shooting with many clutch 3-pointers down the stretch by guards Yosef Zakon and Tzvi Zigelstein.

When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard showed the score of 45-34 in favor of the Lions. This gave the Lions their second win on the young season. The Lions next face off against the SAR Sting this coming Saturday night at the Max Stern Athletic Center.

By Yeshiva League Pass