Box Score


NEW YORK, N.Y.— The Yeshiva men's basketball team gave the twentieth nationally ranked Purchase College a run for its money but the Maccabees were defeated by the Panthers 75-59 at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
Yeshiva is now 6-14 (4-9 Skyline), while Purchase is now 19-1 (13-0 Skyline).
 
The Maccabees were led by Benjy Ritholtz with 21 points. He connected on 8-of-13 shooting and was 4-for-8 from behind the three point arc. Eitan Selevan had nine points and four rebounds in the contest.
 
Purchase was led by its seven foot – two inch center Joel Neri with 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting. Andre Nixon shot 8-for-10 from the floor for 19 points, while David Haughton added 10 points and eight rebounds.
 
The Maccabees went back and forth with the Skyline Conference's first place team in the opening stages. Yeshiva scored the first four points of the game with crisp passing and tight defense. The visiting Panthers eventually took the lead behind an 8-0 spurt to make the score 8-4. But Yeshiva answered with a 5-0 run to retake the lead, and the Maccabees were up 9-8 with just under five minutes gone by.
 
But Purchase, with its size and athleticism, earned control of the game with a 10-0 run to put itself ahead 18-9 with 12:27 to play. The Panthers led by double figures later in the first half and went into halftime up 13 at 41-28.
 
Purchase opened the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 47-28 lead with 17:29 to play. From there, the Panthers kept the Maccabees at arm's length distance into the closing minutes. Yeshiva trailed 75-52 with 2:18 to play before closing out the game on a 7-0 run.
 
Purchase held a 48-22 advantage on points in the paint and 19-11 on points off turnovers. Purchase held a 37-19 rebounding advantage and outscored the Maccabees 14-2 on second chance points.
 
Yeshiva is back in action on Tuesday for a home contest against Farmingdale State at 8 p.m.