NEWBURGH, NY - Taking home a W for the second consecutive game, the Yeshiva Men's Basketball Team dominated Mount Saint Mary College, taking down the Knights by a score of 87-61 on Wednesday, Jan. 15th.
 
Offensively, the Maccabees saw four of five starters score in double digits, with Max Zakheim (23), Luke Cronin (14), Zevi Samet (13) and Yoav Oselka (12) all breaking the 10-point barrier, a career-high for the young big-man Cronin.
 
On top of their attacking prowess, both Zakheim and Cronin had stellar nights on the defensive side of the ball, as Zakheim tallied three steals and four rebounds, while Cronin put up a stat line of one block, one steal and four rebounds.
 
With the win, the Macs are now 7-7 on the year, 4-1 in conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both squads traded baskets throughout the first nine minutes of play. The Maccabees led for nearly that entire time, but could not separate from their conference foe, up by just five points at 21-16 with 11:25 left on the clock.
   
• A Cronin jumper finally catalyzed a separation between the two squads, with a 19-4 Yeshiva run not only breaking the Mac lead into double digits, but out past 20 points, with the YU advantage stretching to 40-20 with 5:27 remaining in the half. While a brief MSM push over the final minutes shrank that advantage down to 13 points, the Macs still carried a comfortable 46-33 margin into the break.
   
• Carrying their first half momentum into the second, the Macs continued to grow their lead, smashing for good this time the 20-point barrier less than four minutes into the half at 57-35 thanks to buckets from Oselka, Cronin, Samet and Roy Itcovichi. Yeshiva's edge would grow out to as many as 36 points, with the scoreboard reading 73-37 with 9:55 remaining in regulation.
   
• Yeshiva's hold on the game proved indelible over the final ten minutes of play, with the Maccabees' second unit effectively holding down the fort. Three points from Yoel Kintzer, one points from Jonathan Okner and a career high four points from Ari Shklyar maintained YU's white-hot attack through the end of the game, with the Macs walking out of their opponent's gym with an 87-61 victory.

 
MAC LEADERS

• Points: Zakheim (23), Cronin (14), Samet (13), Oselka (12)
• Assists: Itcovichi (7), Zakheim (4), Cronin (3), Oselka (3)
• Rebounds: Itcovichi (6), Samet (6), Zakheim (4), Cronin (4), Bardichev (4)
• Steals: Zakheim (3), Levy (2), Cronin (1), Kintzer (1), Baynash (1), Sicklick (1), Beza (1)
• Blocks: Cronin (1)

 
UP NEXT
Taking on a conference rival after a day of rest, the Macs will host St. Joseph University Long Island on Saturday, Jan. 18th at 8:30 PM.