(Courtesy of yumacs.com) The Yeshiva University men’s basketball team grinded out a Skyline Conference victory over the United States Merchant Marine Academy, 75-72, at Liebertz Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon. The first-place Maccabees (17-5, 15-2 Skyline) extend their program-record winning streak to 16 games and reduce the magic number to clinch the conference’s No. 1 seed to two.

The win did not come easy, as Yeshiva trailed by one, 70-69, with 3:11 remaining in regulation time. With the game tied at 72, with 1:05 to go, junior forward Gabriel Leifer nailed a free throw that put Yeshiva in the lead for good. Down by three, the Mariners (8-14, 6-12 Skyline) had one last chance to tie the game in the closing seconds, but Yeshiva’s strong defense prevented USMMA from hitting the game-tying 3-point field goal right before the buzzer.

“Tough road game against a really challenging and talented team,” Yeshiva University head coach Elliot Steinmetz said. “Proud of our guys for finding a way to win yet again.”

As a team, Yeshiva shot 50.9 percent from the field and had a slight edge on the glass over the opposition, 31-29.

Leading the way for the Maccabees was freshman guard Ryan Turell, who produced a game-high 23 points, while grabbing seven rebounds and distributing five assists. Leifer netted 20 points, dished out a game-high eight assists, brought down three rebounds and forced two steals. Junior guard Simcha Halpert added 16 points with three boards.

Hayon scored six points with four rebounds. Junior guard Tyler Hod netted four points with two boards, while Gweta produced six points, grabbed four rebounds and distributed a pair of assists. Katz added three points with just as many helpers.