NEW YORK, N.Y.— The Yeshiva University men's basketball team was defeated by St. Joseph's-Long Island (SJC) 80-74 in a Skyline Conference contest at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Thursday night.
 
The loss leaves Yeshiva at 11-6 overall and 8-4 in Skyline Conference play, while SJC is now 13-7 this season and 10-3 in the Skyline.
 
Yeshiva was led by Joseph Ammar who came off the bench and scored 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting, including 4-for-4 from behind the three point line. Meanwhile Shaje Weiss and Benjamin Oirech had 14 point apiece in the contest. Oirech shot 6-for-9 from the field, including 2-for-3 from behind the arc, and had nine rebounds. Weiss connected on 7-out of-10.
 
SJC was led by Fernando Vazquez with 21 points on 7-for-14 shooting, while Andy Laurent had 20 points on 8-for-11 from the floor.
 
Yeshiva scored the first 12 points of the game and led 12-0 four minutes into the game, while the visiting Golden Eagles did not get on the board until the 15:52 mark of the first period. Despite Yeshiva's hot start, SJC stayed within striking range and never trailed by more than 12 points the rest of the half. The Golden Eagles trimmed their deficit to as little as one point in the first half, and SJC trailed 22-21 with 8:57 left.
 
The Maccabees went back up by 10 and led 34-24 with 5:55 to go. But SJC came right back and closed out the first half on a 15-5  run to cut the Yeshiva lead back to one as the Maccabees led 40-39 at halftime.
 
In the second half, the Golden Eagles took their first lead of the game by scoring on a lay-up in the first minute to jump ahead 41-40. Yeshiva battled right back and outscored SJC 11-4 to go back ahead and the Maccabees led 51-45 with 16:47 remaining.
 
Yeshiva kept the lead for the next seven plus minutes until SJC took a 60-59 lead with 8:58 to play.
 
The Maccabees retook the lead 61-60 on the next possession before the Golden Eagles went on an 11-0 run to take a 71-61 lead with 5:37 to play, and the Maccabees never owned the lead again. Yeshiva used a 7-0 run to pull back to within three, but never got closer.
 
SJC connected on 52.8 percent from the field (28-for-53) and 62.5 percent from three point territory (10-for-16). Yeshiva shot 46.0 percent (29-for-63) from the field and 47.1 percent (8-for-17)  from behind the arc. Yeshiva held a 36-28 edge on points in the paint, while the Golden Eagles outscored the Maccabees 19-15 on points off turnovers.
 
Yeshiva is back in action on Saturday for a game at the College at Old Westbury at 8:30 p.m.