NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team (5-13, 4-7 Skyline) avenged an 89-79 loss from back on Dec. 10 by holding on late to defeat first-place Yeshiva University (11-5, 8-3 Skyline), 69-67, Saturday evening in the Max Stern Athletic Center.
Neither team was able to take control throughout the duration of the game, as evidenced by the 15 lead changes and seven tie scores. The second half alone saw the lead change hands 11 times, leading to an exciting finish.
Yeshiva got the edge early on, taking a 10-5 lead just over five minutes into the game. The Knights quickly turned it around with the next six points to take an 11-10 lead. Later in the half, the Knights pulled out to a five-point lead, but eventually got overtaken after a three by Joseph Ammar put Yeshiva up, 27-25. Sophomore forward
Alex Smith (Marlboro, N.Y.) made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 27 apiece before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Yeshiva swiftly gained the upper hand early on in the second frame, going up 42-32 at the 16-minute mark. The Knights then found their rhythm, and went on a 16-0 run to take a 46-42 lead. The two Skyline rivals traded the lead back-and-forth as they got deeper into the second stanza, but a layup by junior forward
Jason Oder (Levittown, N.Y.) put the Knights up, 63-62 with 1:57 to play.
With the game already nerve-wracking, each possession became crucial for both teams in the final two minutes. After Oder's layup, the Knights forced a turnover by Yisrael Feld. After Smith had his shot blocked, Oder snagged the offensive rebound and dished it out to sophomore guard
Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.), who drained a jumper to improve the Knight lead to three. Shelby Rosenberg quickly returned the Knight lead to one after making a layup on the Maccabees' next possession.
After a Yeshiva timeout, Benjy Ritholtz was called for a foul, sending freshman guard
Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) to the line for a one-and-one. McDine was unable to make his first attempt, but luckily the Macs touched the ball last before it went out of bounds, keeping possession with the Knights. Nicholson was fouled shortly after the inbound, and managed to make both of his attempts to put the Knights back up by three.
Ritholtz missed a layup on Yeshiva's next possession, but Rosenberg was able to grab it before the Knights could. He put the ball back up, and once again had to pull down the rebound. On his next attempt, Rosenberg got the right roll and cut the deficit to just a point. On the ensuing inbound, the Knights were forced to call a timeout before getting called for a five-second violation. They managed to get the ball in to McDine on the next try, and he was quickly sent to the line. This time, McDine made both of his shots to put the Knights up by three with under 10 seconds to play.
Knowing Yeshiva has some good long-range shooters, head coach
Ryan Kadlubowski had his team foul the Macs before they could attempt a tying shot. Jordan Hod made the first attempt to cut the deficit to two, and needed to miss the next one and hope for a rebound to keep the Maccabees' chances alive. The Knights ran into some bad luck, as two Mount players were unable to hold onto the ball, and it bounced out of bounds, giving Yeshiva another possession with a chance to tie, or potentially win the game. Ritholtz received the inbound in the far corner and got the shot off, but solid defense forced a bad shot that fell well short of the basket, securing the game for the Knights.
McDine narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine assists in Saturday night's victory. Nicholson led the team with 16 points, adding five rebounds. Freshman guard
Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) helped out with 14 points and seven boards, while Smith scored 13 and grabbed eight rebounds. Oder went 4-of-5 off the bench for nine points.
Rosenberg led all scorers with 24 points on the evening, just missing a double-double with nine rebounds. Ritholtz added 11 points, while Hod contributed seven points and seven assists.
The Knights shot a solid 49.1 percent (26-of-53) on the evening, including a 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) line in the second half. Yeshiva trailed the Knights by shooting 44.8 percent (26-of-58) in the game, but also had a strong second frame, making 15-of-27 (55.6 percent) field goals. The Knights held a slim 33-29 edge in rebounds, but gave the ball away 18 times while only forcing 15 turnovers.
After playing well on the road their past two games, the Knights now return home for their next matchup, a crucial Skyline Conference battle against defending champion Purchase College. Tip-off at the Kaplan Center is set for 7 p.m.
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