NEW YORK, N.Y.— The Yeshiva University men's basketball team clinched a berth into the 2015 Skyline Conference playoffs on Tuesday after the Maccabees beat Sarah Lawrence College 83-58 at the Max Stern Athletic Center.
 
Moments before officially clinching, Yeshiva gained the inside edge to postseason basketball after fellow Skyline Conference institution Farmingdale State was defeated by St. Joseph's-Long Island, allowing the Maccabees to now officially finish no worse than sixth place this season regardless of the outcome of the Maccabees' remaining Skyline Conference games.
 
Yeshiva is now 12-10 overall with the win and the Maccabees improve to 9-7 in Skyline Conference play, while Sarah Lawrence falls to 1-22 overall and 0-17 in the conference
 
The visiting Gryphons committed 27 turnovers, 20 of which came via Yeshiva steals leading to the Maccabees having a 31-10 advantage on points off turnovers.  Yeshiva turned the ball over 10 times in the win.
 
The Maccabees shot 48.3 percent (28-for-58) from the field and were led by Shelby Rosenberg and Benjy Ritholtz with 20 points each. The two also had five steals apiece in the victory. Meanwhile Yisrael Feld, Joseph Ammar and Shaje Weiss each had eight points.
 
Sarah Lawrence was led by Jeff Jordan II with 13 points.
 
Sarah Lawrence led early in the contest and was up by as much as four. The Maccabees took the lead for good by breaking a 14-14 tie with an 8-2 run that put Yeshiva up 22-16 with 8:52 to play. The Maccabees gradually increased their lead later in the first half and went up double-digits in the final three minutes and they led 41-30 at halftime.
 
Yeshiva maintained its double-digit lead over the final twenty-minutes en route to the win. The Gryphons had cut the Yeshiva lead to 10 at one point, and the score was 45-35 with 17:17 to play. But the Maccabees ran off with a 15-1 spurt to break the game open and Yeshiva led 60-36 with 12:49 to play.
 
The Maccabees led by as much as thirty-one later in the half before the game ended.
 
Both teams earned 18 second chance points, and Yeshiva held a 24-22 edge on points in the paint.
 
Though it clinched a playoff berth, Yeshiva can still finish as high as fourth in the Skyline Conference with two wins to close out the regular season, paired with other factors beyond its control. Should the Maccabees finish in fourth, they would have a home game next Tuesday in the first round.
 
Yeshiva is back in action on Thursday for a final regular season home game against Farmingdale State at 8 p.m.