NEW YORK, NY – The men's basketball team took part in the Ramapo Tournament this past weekend, and came home with a 1-1 split of the two games. The Maccabees now stand at 2-2 on the season.
In Saturday's opener against the host Roadrunners, Yeshiva played a near even half, trailing by only 3 at the break. They led by 3 with just under two minutes to play before Ramapo ended with a 6-0 run. Yeshiva shot 46% from the field in the half, including 44% from 3-pt. range.
Ramapo came out in the second half and doubled their lead in the first 3 minutes, and Yeshiva was unable to respond. The deficit grew to as much as 14 for the Macs in the second half, and time ran out before they could make another run. Although Yeshiva shot another 46% from the field (41% from 3-pt. range), the difference was the 58% for the Roadrunners from the field in the second half. The final was 74-63.
Omer Haim led all scorers with 19 in the game, and also got 4 steals. Gil Bash chipped in 12 and Martin Leibovich ended with 10.
In the consolation game against Berkeley, the Maccabees played their second overtime game already this season. Unlike the previous overtime game (which was also decided by 1 point) the Maccabees came out on top, 64-63.
Yeshiva opened the game with a 10-2 run, and was able to push the lead to as much as 11 with 7:08 to play. However, Berkeley mounted a run of their own, an 13-3 run that pulled them to 23-22. The Maccabees ended the half with a 37-24 advantage.
Berkeley came out in the second half and took their first lead of the game with 15:04 remaining. But the Maccabees regained that lead and pushed it to 6, but Berkeley would not go away. Despite a 7 point deficit with less than 5 minutes to play, Berkeley continued to play hard and eventually tied the game at 54 at the end of regulation.
The Macs led or played tied the entire overtime period for all but 14 seconds. Chen Sina's jumper with 14 seconds remaining gave the Macs a three point edge, which proved to be enough.
Gil Bash led the team with 15 points on 6-9 shooting. Chen Biron followed with 13 and Omer Haim had 11. Omer Haim was named to the All-Tournament team for his performance.
The Maccabees will play their first home game of the season this Tuesday evening, with an 8PM start against Skyline competitor Bard College.
