(Mahwah, NJ) – With first-year players accounting for more than 65% of the offense, the Yeshiva University Men's Basketball team opened the 2007-08 season with a 1-1 finish at the Ramapo College Tournament on Nov. 15 and Nov. 16 at Ramapo College in Mahwah, New Jersey. The Maccabees opened play with an 80-39 loss to host Ramapo on Saturday night. On Sunday, YU downed Berkeley College 65-48.
On Saturday night, an Alex Claster (Kansas City, MO/Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy) jumper just three minutes into the game made it 8-5 Ramapo, but from there the Roadrunners went on an 11-0 run to make it 19-5. From there, the closest Yeshiva would make the score was a 10-point deficit with 11:31 to play in the first half, but a 10-3 Ramapo run gave the hosts some distance, and Yeshiva was unable to come back. The Maccabees trailed 44-21 at halftime.
The second half saw much of the same as Ramapo went on a 12-1 run early in the half to go up by 30. However, YU shot and rebounded better as the half moved along as freshman Chen Biron (Kfar Saba, Israel/Katzanelson) finished the game with 12 points and five rebounds, and junior Martin Leibovich (Buenos Aires, Argentina/ORT II) scored a team-high 14 points on 6 for 10 shooting, and grabbed five rebounds as well. However, Yeshiva shot only 34% from the floor for the game, converted six of 15 free throws, and committed 34 turnovers.
Sunday proved to be a better for the Maccabees as sophomore Simon Brookim (Brentwood, CA/Valley Torah) saw his first career action and responded with 18 points on 8 for 11 shooting, and junior Alex Claster narrowly missed a double-double as he scored 16 points and added nine rebounds and three assists. The game started with both teams going toe-to-toe, but two free throws by Leibovich with 4:58 to play in the opening stanza completed a 10-2 Yeshiva run and made it 25-14. The Maccabees led 33-22 at halftime.
The second half proved to be Yeshiva's finest of the weekend as the Maccabees shot 57% from the floor as Brookim hit all five of his shots and scored 11 points. A 20-8 YU rebounding edge also allowed the Maccabees to maintain a double-digit lead for all but 35 seconds of the second half. For the game, Yeshiva shot 49% from the floor, and outrebounded Berkeley 43-22. Biron scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds, and junior Jeremy Pressman (Bala Cynwd, PA/Stern Hebrew) added five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Yeshiva comes home for the first time during the 2008-09 season as the Maccabees host CCNY on Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. at the Max Stern Athletics Center.
