In their regular-season finale, the Macs snapped their four-game losing streak with a 68-64 win over the SUNY Maritime Privateers to clinch the two seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference. The wild victory saw the return of Or Sundjyvsky after a two-month absence and a Macs comeback from down 10 points with under three minutes remaining in the contest.
The Macs rallied for a thrilling 68-64 victory over Maritime on Saturday night, clinching the Gold Division title and second seed in the Skyline Conference tournament. (Photo Credit: Akiva Poppers/MacsLive)
How it Happened:
While the Macs won the opening tip, Roy Itcovichi turned the ball over, and Theo Noble opened the scoring for the Privateers. The Macs quickly found themselves in a 6-0 hole but climbed out of it following back-to-back treys by Dothan Bardichev and Adi Markovich.
After a sloppy first seven minutes from both teams, which saw a combined 5-for-15 shooting from the field and 8 turnovers, the Privateers went on an 11-0 run, jumping out to a 19-8 lead midway through the first half.
The remainder of the first half saw the Macs struggling on both sides of the ball, and Jake Murphy buried a three to extend the Privateers’ lead to 14 with 2:35 left to play in the half. The only subsequent scoring change before halftime was two Zevi Samet free throws with 0.1 seconds left to cut the Macs’ deficit to 32-20 heading back into the locker room.
The Macs looked much better defensively to start the second half, with stops on the Privateers’ first four possessions. This sparked a 6-0 run to start the half, highlighted by Effy Freundlich converting an and-one 1:55 into the half to cut the deficit to six points.
A pair of Bardichev threes and a Freundlich steal-and-score made it a three-point game with just under seven minutes in the half. However, Jake Murphy followed up with a corner three on the Privateers’ ensuing possession to stop the momentum shift.
Some back-and-forth ball saw the Macs get to within five points of the Privateers, but they were unable to fully close the gap. Adi Markovich fouled out on with a blocking foul with just under 7 minutes left to play.
Six straight points by Roy Itcovichi saw the Macs close to within four points of Maritime with just over 4 minutes left, but Theo Noble drilled a laser from the wing to extend the lead to 59-52 with 3:48 left.
A corner three from Jake Murphy extended the Privateers’ lead to 10 points with 3:10 remaining, but the Macs showed no quit, responding with 6 points of their own to draw back to within four points with 1:29 left.
A Freundlich block followed by a huge layup by Bardichev while getting fouled, cut the lead to two points with 50 seconds left. On the next possession, Itcovichi fouled Murphy with 27.8 seconds left, who subsequently hit both free throws, but Samet immediately followed up with a layup to make it a 64-62 game with 17 seconds left.
On the ensuing Maritime possession, the Macs press resulted in Sundjyvsky coming up with a game-saving steal, allowing Itcovichi to tie the game on a layup with 4.9 seconds left. Maritime Coach Berkun then accidentally called a timeout, but he didn’t have any remaining. The refs gave him a technical, and Zevi Samet quickly drilled both free throws to give the Macs their first lead of the night. Sundjyvsky intercepted the Privateers’ inbound and was subsequently fouled. He then hit both free throws to ice the 68-64 victory for the Macs.
A Tale of Two Halves:
The Macs looked slow to start the game, hitting only two field-goals in the first 11 minutes and shooting 7-for-26 in the first half. Also, the Macs looked like they were doing too much ball-watching on both sides of the court. They struggled to get open offensively and allowed the Privateers to get wide open on cuts to the basket. However, they looked much more energized on both sides of the court in the second half, holding the Privateers to just 11-for-28 while shooting 15-for-27 from the field while outscoring the Privateers 48-32 in the half. The only area where they struggled defensively in the closing frame was guarding the perimeter, as the Privateers attempted 17 threes, many of them being wide-open looks.
No Quit from Yeshiva:
The Macs entered this game having lost four straight games. When a team loses four straight, playing with motivation and energy is sometimes hard. After being down by 12 points at halftime, the Macs came out looking incredibly energized and refreshed, playing all the way down to the final buzzer. Much of that may very well have to do with the return of Or Sundjyvsky, who has noticeably brought energy to this Macs team all season, even from the bench. Tonight’s win should give the Macs huge momentum going into the upcoming Skyline Tournament.
For Maritime (14-11 Overall, 7-7 Skyline):
Jake Murphy led the Privateers with 22 points and 8 rebounds, shooting 7-9 from the field and 3-11 from downtown.
Aleksandar Begovic scored 11 points and also finished with 8 boards on the night.
The Privateers shot 23-53 (43.4%) from the field and 5-25 (20,0%) from beyond the arc.
Maritime enters the Skyline Conference Tournament as the #4 seed and will host Sarah Lawrence in the first round
For Yeshiva (14-11 Overall, 11-5 Skyline):
Dothan Bardichev had a massive night, finishing with a career-high 20 points while grabbing 8 boards and dishing out 4 assists.
In his return from a shoulder injury that has kept him out for two months, Or Sundjyvsky finished with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 3 steals in 23 minutes of action.
Zevi Samet finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds but notably went 0-4 from three-point range on the night.
The Macs scored 26 points off turnovers compared to the Privateers’ 14.
The Macs finished the night shooting 22-53 (41.5%) from the field and 4-17 (23.5%) from downtown. They also converted 20-29 (69.0%) of their opportunities at the free-throw line.
With the win, the Macs extended their winning streak over the Privateers to 7 games, dating back to December 19, 2017. They haven’t lost at the Reisenberg Gymnasium since December 12, 2011.
Up Next:
The Macs finished the regular season as the #2 seed. They will play their opening round game of the Skyline Conference Tournament this Tuesday night, hosting the University of Mt. St. Vincent Dolphins in a rematch of this past Wednesday’s game. Tip-off is at 8:00 at the Max Stern Athletic Center.
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