NEW YORK, N.Y. - The No 4. Yeshiva University men's basketball team will host No. 5 Mount Saint Mary College in the opening round of the Skyline Conference championships, on Tuesday evening. Tip-off at the Max Stern Athletic Center is at 8:00 p.m. This will be Yeshiva's first time hosting a home playoff game since 2016, and the second since 2002.

The Maccabees (15-10, 13-7 Skyline) and Knights (13-12, 13-7 Skyline) split their head-to-head meetings this season, with the home team winning each game. Mount Saint Mary won the first matchup at the Kaplan Center, 74-69, back on November 30. Yeshiva countered by winning a rematch at the Max Stern Athletic Center, 82-66, on January 30. Both teams finished with identical conference records, but Yeshiva earned the tiebreaker and the fourth seed.

A turning point in YU's season was an eight-game winning streak, which set a program record for the longest unbeaten stretch since joining the NCAA in 1956. Before the streak started, Yeshiva was sitting outside of a playoff spot. Thanks to the Maccabees' historic run, YU catapulted into a tie for third place and earned the right to host a first round game. YU also finished the season with an identical conference record with Mount Saint Vincent. The Dolphins earned the tiebreaker and the third seed.

The Knights are also coming into the first round game with momentum, winning the last five games of the season, all in the conference.

The winner of Tuesday's game will travel to Farmingdale State, to take on the No. 1 seed and defending Skyline tournament champion Rams, on Thursday evening. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.

Leading the way for Yeshiva has been sophomore guard Simcha Halpert. He tops the Skyline with an average of 21.2 points per game. His .439 3-point field goal percentage also leads the conference. The Los Angeles resident was named Skyline Player of the Week twice and has earned a spot on the Skyline Conference Weekly Honor Roll six times. He also earned Honorable Mention accolades by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association, back on December 4.

Sophomore forward Bar Alluf is second in the conference in scoring with an average of 18 points per game.

Since sophomore forward Gabriel Leifer joined the team at the start of the second half of the season, Yeshiva is 9-2 and went from being outside of the Skyline championships picture to hosting a first round game. The Lawrence resident is averaging a double-double with 18.1 points per game and 10.7 rebounds per contest. He was named the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week twice, earned a spot on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week, and earned Honorable Mention accolades by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.

As a team, Yeshiva leads the conference in scoring (77 points per game), field goal percentage (.477), and in 3-point field goal percentage at (.389).

Yeshiva has had a lot of success sharing the ball this season, distributing 470 total assists, which ranks ninth in the country. The Maccabees average 18.8 dimes a game, the 10^th highest in the nation.

For Mount Saint Mary, Gerard Nocera leads the team in scoring with 12.7 points per game. Tyler McDine is producing 11.8 points per game and a team-high 3.5 assists per contest. Daniel Wolff is scoring 11.8 points per night and has a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game.

Fans that cannot make it to the game can follow the action via live stats. MacsLive will also be broadcasting the game, which can be accessed at this link.

The full Skyline bracket can be viewed here.