Men's Basketball Topped by Yeshiva, 74-65

Written by Julia Ruocchio

When and Where:

February 8, 2023 - Patchogue, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 10-11, 7-6 Skyline

Yeshiva, 13-9, 10-3 Skyline

Results:

The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team suffered a 74-65 loss to Yeshiva University in a conference match-up at the Danzi Center on Wednesday evening.

Top performers:

• Graduate Matthew Hirdt scored a team-leading 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting from three-point range with five rebounds and two steals 

• Junior Xavier Allen scored 16 points with a game-high nine rebounds and a steal

• Junior Spencer Malloy and sophomore Alec Tabada each contributed double-digit points, with Malloy adding 13 and Tabada scoring 11. Tabada contributed a game-high seven assists

• Yeshiva was led by a 21-point performance for Zevi Samet

• Max Zakheim contributed 17 points and seven rebounds for the Maccabees

• Roy Itcovichi added 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field, while Matan Zucker scored 11 for the visitors and added three steals

How it happened:

• St. Joseph's built an early 9-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game

• With the hosts leading 13-2, Yeshiva scored five points to trim the lead to 13-7, before St. Joseph's went on an 8-1 run that featured a pair of threes by Hirdt to increase their advantage to 21-8 at the 9:51 mark

• The Maccabees scored the next seven points, then SJLI scored seven of the next nine before a three for Dothan Bardichev capped the scoring of the half. The Golden Eagles went into the break ahead by seven (27-20)

• The Maccabees went on a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of the half to knot the game at 27 apiece

• After an Allen jumper at the 17:40 mark put the hosts back ahead 29-27, Yeshiva went on an 11-2 run to go up 38-31 with 15:01 on the clock

• Yeshiva went up 44-36, then four straight points for Allen brought the hosts within four (44-40) with 11:01 remaining

• A three-point basket for sophomore Thomas Bell cut the Golden Eagles' deficit to one (44-43) at the 9:45 mark, then junior Ryan McNeely's three at the 8:27 mark tied the game at 46

• About 40 seconds later, Malloy gave St. Joseph's their first lead since the beginning of the half on a layup to put the hosts ahead 48-47

• Malloy tied the game at 50 with a basket at the 6:45 mark, then the Maccabees went on a 10-2 scoring run to give the visitors a 60-52 advantage

• Yeshiva built their largest lead of the night, 65-54 with 3:35 on the clock, then a pair of three-point shots for Hirdt brought the Golden Eagles back within five (65-60) with 2:02 remaining

• The visitors out-scored SJLI 9-5 in the final two minutes to secure their third straight win

Notes:

• St. Joseph's shot 41.8% from the field and 40.9% from three-point range

• Yeshiva posted a 46.6% shooting percentage overall and 38.5% from three-point territory

• The Golden Eagles went 10-for-11 (90.9%) on free throws, while the Maccabees went 10-for-15 for a percentage of 66.7%

• Yeshiva's Zakheim scored all 17 of his points in the second half, with the visitors out-scoring St. Joseph's 54-38 in the half overall

Next up, the Golden Eagles travel to SUNY Old Westbury for a conference match-up on Saturday, February 11 at 5:00 pm.