PURCHASE, N.Y.— The Yeshiva University men's basketball team connected on 55.4 percent from the floor (31-for-56) including 52.2 percent from behind the three point line (12-for-23) en route to knocking off the defending Skyline Conference champions as the Maccabees beat Purchase College 78-76 in a thriller in Westchester County Monday night.
 
The win by Yeshiva, its third in a row, improves the Maccabees to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in Skyline Conference play. Purchase College falls to 1-8 overall and 1-1 in the Skyline Conference.
 
The Maccabees were led by Michael Berg who was nearly perfect, connecting on 9-of-11 from the floor for 19 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Benjy Ritholtz also had a solid game, chipping in with 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting (5-for-9 from downtown) to go with five rebounds and five assists. Joseph Ammar went 6-for-11 from the field (all three point attempts) for 18 points. Eli Mamann was 5-for-10 from the floor for 10 points, while Jordan Hod added five points and five assists.
 
Purchase was led by Craig Graves with 25 points, while Taylor Foster had nine points and 10 assists.
 
The game was close throughout with neither team able to take a large lead. Yeshiva and the host Panthers traded baskets for the first seven minutes of the game, while the game saw Purchase tie the score seven times. The Maccabees led 2-0, 4-2, 6-4, 8-6, 11-8, 14-11 and 16-14, before Purchase used a brief 5-0 spurt to take its first lead of the contest.
 
But over the final 4:49 of the contest, Yeshiva, down 30-29, closed out the half on a 14-4 run to lead by nine at the break as the Maccabees were up 43-34.
 
Yeshiva held the lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half before Purchase took a 63-61 advantage with just over 10 minutes to play. The lead came during the midst of a 14-0 run that turned a 61-54 Yeshiva lead into a 68-61 Purchase advantage with 8:36 to play.
 
But the Maccabees bounced right back and chipped away at the lead. Yeshiva finally went back up when Ammar knocked in a three pointer with 2:30 to go to give Yeshiva a 77-75 advantage at that point.
 
From there, neither team connected on another field goal. Purchase edged closer when the Panthers' Nicholas Jackson went 1-for-2 from the line with 2:09 to go to make the score 77-76. Then both teams failed to connect on ensuing possessions. With twenty-three seconds left Ritholtz was fouled and made 1-of-2 to put Yeshiva back up by two. Then with the shot clock off, Purchase failed to connect on its final attempt as the Maccabees hold on and up their current winning streak to three games.
 
The Maccabees held a 28-8 advantage on bench points and 20-16 on points in the paint.
 
Yeshiva is back in action on Wednesday for a game at Mt. St. Mary's College at 8 p.m.