GALLOWAY, N.J. – The nationally ranked No. 19 Yeshiva University men’s basketball team’s incredible season came to an end on Friday afternoon, as the Maccabees fell short to the No. 10 Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University by a score 63-59, at the Stockton University Sports Center. Johns Hopkins will play the winner of No. 23 Stockton vs. Mitchell College, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the same location.
Yeshiva (25-4) trailed 60-52 with 1:27 left to go in the game, but senior Ryan Turell willed his team back into the contest by draining three straight free throws, and then knocking down a triple, to pull the Macs to within two, at 60-58, with 40 seconds left to play. However, YU could not capitalize on the game-tying shot and Johns Hopkins (23-3) connected on key free throws to clinch the victory.
“This team changed the world,” Yeshiva University Head Coach Elliot Steinmetz said about his players. “I am very proud of them.”
YU Macs lost.
It’s crushing for sure. Loss hurts.
But the Jewish People don’t just inspire when they win. We inspire in how we handle defeat.
And I am so proud of this team and everything they’ve done to instill pride in the Jewish People.
Winners, always.
❤️🙌❤️
— David/Dovid Bashevkin (@DBashIdeas) March 4, 2022
Leading the way for the Maccabees was Turell, who had a game-high 28 points, while grabbing four rebounds and forcing two steals. He shot 11-for-21 from the field. Graduate student Gabriel Leifer recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 boards, while dishing out six assists. Fellow graduate student Ethan Lasko netted 12 points off the bench. Senior Eitan Halpert finished with four points and five rebounds. Junior Ofek Reef hit three free throws and snatched two boards.
The Maccabees got off to a slow start, falling behind by a score of 5-0. However, YU raised the defensive intensity, and scored eight straight points on the offensive end, capped off by a layup from Halpert, to jump out in front, 8-5, with 15:09 to go in the half. The Maccabees held the Blue Jays scoreless for 4:23 during that stretch.
Later in the half, with the game tied at 17 points apiece, Leifer found Turell inside, who converted a layup to allow the Blue and White to regain the lead with 9:06 to go in the stanza. On the next offensive possession, Turell continued the momentum by burying a jump shot to extend the Macs’ benefit to 21-17. The Blue Jays countered by going on an 10-2 run to claim a 27-23 advantage with 2:12 to go before the break. Leifer disrupted the opposition’s momentum by successfully executing a pull-up jump shot to slice YU’s deficit in half.
After the Blue Jays went back up by four, Lasko took a feed from Leifer and drained a wide-open 3-point basket to narrow the Macs’ disadvantage to 29-28, with 39 ticks left on the clock. However, graduate student Conner Delaney buried a pull-up triple, with six seconds remaining, to extend Johns Hopkins’ lead to 32-28. That would be the score after 20 minutes of play.
In the second half, Johns Hopkins built its lead up to 43-34 with 13:29 left to play in regulation time. Later in the stanza, with YU trailing by eight, Lasko received the ball from Leifer and buried another key 3-point shot to pull YU to within five, at 44-39, with 10:18 left to play. However, Johns Hopkins took advantage of an 11-4 run to take a commanding 55-43 hold with 6:49 left to play.
YU would not go down without a fight, as a three-point basket from Leifer, and a layup from Lasko, narrowed YU’s disadvantage to 55-48 with 5:46 remaining. However, a driving layup by junior Lincoln Yeutter put the Blue Jays’ lead back up to nine., with 5:20 left to play.
With their backs against the wall, Turell caught the pass from Reef and drained a triple to pull the Macs to within six, at 57-51, with 2:54 left. After each team scored a point, junior Sidney Thybulle converted a layup to inflate the Blue Jays’ cushion to 60-52 with 1:27 left to play.
As the Macs have done all season, they raised their level with their backs against the wall and kept battling. Turell drew a foul while shooting a three-point shot so he was awarded three free throw opportunities with one minute to go. He buried all three shots from the charity stripe to shrink Yeshiva’s deficit to five. Lasko came up big on the defensive side by forcing a steal. Turell took advantage by draining a basket from downtown to narrow Johns Hopkins’ lead to 60-58 with 40 seconds left, much to the delight of the raucous Maccabees’ crowd. YU’s strong defense forced a turnover with 15 seconds to go, which allowed the Macs to get an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead.
Unfortunately, Yeshiva could not drain the game-tying jump shot attempt and Thybulle grabbed the rebound. The Blue Jays were able to hit key free throws during the final seconds of play to clinch their spot in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
For Johns Hopkins, junior Carson James scored 23 points, and shot 7-for-10 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists.
The Maccabees (25-4) had an outstanding season, winning its second straight Skyline Conference Championship, earning a No. 1 national ranking on the D3hoops.com Men’s Basketball Top 25 National Poll, and riding a 50-game winning streak.
The Maccabees will return to the court in November of 2022.
