The Yeshiva Maccabees won their third ever Skyline Conference championship Sunday, taking home a 74-40 win against the Manhattanville College Valiants. Known all year as an offensive team, the Macs’ defense shined this afternoon as they held the Valiants to only 40 points. Matan Zucker was named Most Outstanding Player after turning in a perfect shooting game, scoring 10 points on 3-3 from the field and 4-4 from the line. He added seven rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. Ryan Turell led all scorers with 16 points, and Eitan Halpert contributed 14 points, going 4-7 from deep. For the Valiants, Ryan Giordano led the team with 12 points in 25 minutes of action. No other Manhattanville player had more than seven points, as the Macs defense held the Valiants to 31.1% shooting.
How it Happened:
Eitan Halpert hit a three to cap off a 9-0 Macs run to start the game.
Ryan Giordano finally got the Valiants on the board with a jumper six minutes into the game.
Some balanced scoring and tight defense by the Valiants helped them keep pace for the rest of the half, which ended with YU leading 25-16.
A Halpert three pointer at 14:12 in the second half opened up a 40-18 Macs lead and forced a Manhattanville timeout.
Gabe Leifer set up a beautiful alley-oop for Turell, sending the crowd into a frenzy and putting the Macs up by 23 with 11:08 to go.
Oren Betesh hit three three-pointers down the stretch helping push the YU lead to as many as 36 points.
Ryan Bokor hit a turnaround jumper with 38 seconds left in the game to put the finishing touches on the Macs’ Skyline Championship victory.
Defense:
The first half of this one was a defensive battle. Both teams struggled to get any rhythm as the opposing defense clamped down, leading to a 23-16 halftime score. Yeshiva kept up their defense in the second half, holding Manhattanville to only 40 points total. Ofek Reef had three steals and the Macs combined for 12 steals and four blocks, giving the offense time to heat up in the second half. Manhattanville did a good job of slowing down Ryan Turell in the first half, but once he got his rhythm late in the first he was able to contribute significantly in the second half, ending the game as the leading scorer.
Free Throw Shooting:
The Macs have struggled somewhat this year from the free throw line, but today they were on, going 13-15. Matan Zucker, who shoots less than 60% from the line, was perfect today, going 4-4 as part of his perfect shooting day. The Valiants had a bad day at the line, going 9-20. The disparity in numbers from the line allowed the Macs to hold on to a lead during the first half when both teams struggled offensively. The Valiants were unable to come back in the second half, in part because they were unable to score with the clock stopped.
For Manhattanville (17-9, 12-4):
Ryan Giordano had 12 points on 50% shooting.
Petey Galgano pulled in eight rebounds and turned in a scrappy performance in the losing effort.
The bench turned in 22 points, more than the starters combined to score.
For Yeshiva (25-3, 14-2):
Matan Zucker had 10 points and seven rebounds.
Ryan Turell put up 16 points, and pulled down nine rebounds.
Eitan Halpert and Ofek Reef contributed 14 and 12 points respectively, picking up the Macs when they struggled to score at times.
The team shot 86.7% from the free throw line, staying cool under pressure in the championship game.
Up Next:
The Macs will wait for the D3 selection show on Monday to find out their seeding and where they will play their first round game in the NCAA D3 tournament next weekend.
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