NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Yeshiva University men's basketball team will compete in the Skyline Conference championship game for the first time in program history on Sunday afternoon. The #4 Maccabees will battle the #2 Panthers of Purchase College, at the Purchase College Gymnasium, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The team that wins the championship will earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament.

While Yeshiva is playing in its first Skyline championship game in program history, Purchase won the conference tournament title four times (2009-10, 2010-11, 2012-13, and 2013-14). The Maccabees did compete in a championship game before. In 1993, the Maccabees hosted NJIT in the Independent Athletic Conference championship game. 

For fans who cannot attend the game, Purchase will be providing live stats which can be viewed here. MacsLive will also be broadcasting the game. You can go to MacsLive.com to view its live streaming video coverage. Fan buses will be taking students and staff from both campuses to Purchase College and back. You can sign up for your spot on either bus by this link.

Yeshiva (17-10, 13-7 Skyline) set a program record for most wins in a single season with 17. The Maccabees rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat #5 Mount Saint Mary in the first round of the Skyline Conference championships, 80-67, at the Max Stern Athletic Center on Tuesday evening. YU continued its momentum by earning an upset win over the defending Skyline Conference champion and No. 1 seed Farmingdale State, 77-75, in overtime in the Skyline semi-final round on Thursday evening.

The Panthers (18-8, 13-7 Skyline) earned the No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the Skyline championships. Purchase was victorious in the Skyline semi-final round over #3 Mount Saint Vincent, 70-63, at the Purchase College Gymnasium on Thursday. The Panthers are undefeated at home this season, with a 12-0 record. 

This will be the third year in a row that Yeshiva will play Purchase in the Skyline Conference championships. Two years ago, the Maccabees played the Panthers in the opening round at the Max Stern Athletic Center. It was Yeshiva's first home playoff game since 2002. The Maccabees earned the win, 69-62, in front of a raucous crowd. Last season, the two teams once again squared off in the first round, this time at the Purchase College Gymnasium.  The Panthers gained revenge, winning the game by a score of 72-55.

Sophomore guard Simcha Halpert currently has 562 total points so far this season, which is a program record. He surpassed Eli Hami's previous record of 548 points during the first half of the semi-final game at #1 Farmingdale State.

For the season, the top three scorers in the conference come from Yeshiva. Halpert leads the Skyline with an average of 20.8 points per game, while sophomore forward Gabriel Leifer is scoring 18.2 points per contest. The Lawrence resident is also grabbing 11.2 rebound per contest to average a double-double per game for the season. Classmate Bar Alluf is averaging 17.9 points per contest.

For Purchase, Deshawn Cann is producing 15.4 points per game, while grabbing 8.3 boards, and distributing 4.7 assists per contest. Tarik Allicock is scoring 11.1 points with 9.8 boards per game. Nikeem Deleon is scoring 13.8 points per game with six rebounds a contest.

As a team, Yeshiva is first in the Skyline in scoring offense with 77.1 points per game, while Purchase is ranked third with 73.7 points per contest. The Panthers have the third best scoring defense in the conference, only giving up 69.5 points a game.

Be sure to check out www.yumacs.com, our Facebook page (Yeshiva Athletics), Twitter account (@YUathletics), and Instagram (yuathletics) for all the latest updates leading up to, during, and after the championship game.