NEWBURGH – Hosting its second nationally ranked team of the season, the Mount Saint Mary College Men’s Basketball team suffered an 89-49 home Skyline Conference loss to #7 Yeshiva Wednesday night. Jayden Figueroa led the Mount with 12 points in the contest.
Wednesday’s loss is the Mount’s fourth straight after winning five of six and drops its to 5-10 overall on the season and 3-4 in Skyline Conference play. The Maccabees have now won 51 of their last 52 contests and improve to 15-1 overall and 8-0 in league action.
First Half
Mount Saint Mary got off to a good start, netting the first five points of the contest on a Figueroa three-pointer and a bucket from Connor Cyran in the opening two minutes of play.
The Knights held the lead until a Ryan Turell jumper pushed the Maccabees in front for good at 6-5 with 15:24 left in the first half.
The Knights would stay within a possession until a Matan Zucker bucket moved the visitors in front 14-9.
Following a Chris Yearwood bucket, Yeshiva used a quick 8-0 run to pull in front 22-11 on an Ofek Reef bucket with 8:29 left before halftime.
After a Jayden Racca free-throw cut the Knights’ disadvantage to 22-12, the Maccabees scored the next seven points to surge in front 31-12 with 2:38 left in the opening stanza.
The Mount was limited to just one field goal over the final 2:11 of the first half and saw Yeshiva carry a 39-16 lead into the break following a triple from Turell and a lay-in from Reef in the final 44 seconds of the period.
Mount Saint Mary was held to just three field goals after the opening two minutes and finished the half 5-for-28 from the floor and 1-for-10 from three-point range.
Yeshiva shot an efficient 53.3-percent from the floor over the opening 20 minutes and connected on half of its six three-point attempts.
Figueroa led the Mount with seven points in the first half.
Turell poured in 17 first half points for the Maccabees.
Second Half
Yeshiva picked up right where it left off after halftime, scoring the first nine points of the period to open a 48-16 lead on a Reef bucket just 1:21 into the second stanza.
The Mount pulled to within 48-19 on a Figueroa three-point play, but would not be able to get its disadvantage under 29 points the rest of the way.
The lead grew to a game-high 43 points on a pair of Zucker free-throws with 6:31 left to play.
Mount Saint Mary improved to 42.3-percent shooting after halftime and connected on a trio of three-pointers in the second period.
Yeshiva shot a blistering 73.9-percent in the second half and went 14-for-17 from the free-throw line.
Miles Calame led the Knights with eight second half points.
Turell and Reef each scored 11 points after halftime for Yeshiva.
For The Knights
Figueroa finished the evening with 12 points on the strength of a 7-for-7 performance from the free-throw line.
Yearwood chipped in 10 points, connecting on a pair of three-pointers, and added three rebounds.
J.P. Egan and Calame each scored eight points off the bench with Calame collecting three rebounds and Egan swiping a steal.
Paul Sienke led the team with two assists and contributed two rebounds and a steal.
For The Maccabees
Turell led all players with 28 points on 10-for-17 shooting. He rounded out the night with seven rebounds, three assists and a trio of steals.
Leifer finished the evening with 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds to go along with four assists, two blocks and a steal.
Reef joined Leifer with 15 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
Eitan Halper closed the night with 12 points, three assists and two steals.
Jordan Armstrong finished the night with four rebounds and six blocked shots.
Four Yeshiva players finished the game with at least three assists.