Men's Basketball Sees Season End in Skyline First-Round

When and Where:

February 21, 2023 - New York, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 13-12

Yeshiva University, 16-10

Results:

The sixth-seeded St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team saw its season end with a 67-58 loss at #3 Yeshiva University in the first round of the Skyline Conference Championship Tournament on Tuesday evening.

Top performers:

• Junior Xavier Allen led all players with a 29-point performance on 10-for-16 shooting from the field. The guard added nine rebounds with a pair of assists

• Junior Spencer Malloy pitched in with 15 points and collected a game-high 15 rebounds to finish the year with a double-double

• Four Maccabees finished in double figures with Zevi Samet dropping in a team-best 19 points 

• Oren Betesh and Max Zakheim recorded 14 points apiece with Matan Zucker adding a double-double of 10 points and 13 boards

How it happened:

• After trailing 8-4 in the early minutes of play, the Golden Eagles held Yeshiva scoreless for over six minutes and put up nine unanswered points capped by a Malloy layup to lead 13-8

• SJLI stretched its lead to double figures, 21-11, with just under seven minutes to play in the first frame

• Back-to-back layups from Allen and sophomore Ryan McNeely had St. Joseph's ahead 28-17 with less than two minutes on the clock, but a three from Samet cut the YU deficit to 28-20 heading into the break

• The teams exchanged buckets to open up the second half before layups from Yeshiva's Roy Itcovichi and Samet knotted the score at 31

• A tightly played half saw the teams tied at 48 with just over seven minutes to play, but a 10-0 Yeshiva run sparked by back-to-back threes from Betesh and Zakheim had the host leading 58-48 at the 4:20 mark

• The Golden Eagles would get to within six of the Maccabees on a couple of occasions down the stretch, but Yeshiva managed to hold on for the 67-58 win and advance to the semifinal round

Notes:

• St. Joseph's-L.I. shot 42.6% from the field and 40.0% from three-point range

• The Maccabees were limited to a 37.3% shooting percentage overall and 33.3% from three-point territory

• SJLI held Yeshiva to 21.4% shooting in the first half, but the hosts went on to knock down over 50% in the second frame

• St. Joseph's out-scored the YU in the paint 34-22 while holding the advantage in rebounds 40-26

• Yeshiva turned 17 Golden Eagle turnovers into 21 points

• There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties in the contest