Yeshiva University loses to Johns Hopkins in NCAAs

Updated March 5 ast 7:35 a.m.

The nationally ranked No. 19 Yeshiva University men's basketball team's season came to an end on March 4, as the Maccabees (25-4) lost 63-59 to the No. 10 Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University, in the firest round of the NCAA Division III tournament at the Stockton University Sports Center in Glassboro, New Jersey. 

Below is the story on Yeshiva's Skyline Conferennce championship win. 

It was “Showtime” Yeshiva University-style as Lawrence native Gabriel Leifer, playing his final game in the Max Stern Athletic Center in Manhattan, alley-ooped a pass to senior guard Ryan Turell, who punctuated a 23-6 second-half run with a dunk that gave the 19th-ranked Maccabees a commanding 48-22 lead over Manhattanville with 11 minutes remaining in regulation and sent the capacity home crowd into a frenzy.

Y.U.’s defense set the tone for its 74-40 victory over the Valiants (17-9) last Sunday, securing the Maccabees’ (25-3) third Skyline Conference championship in the past four seasons and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III basketball tournament, known as “the Dance.”

Y.U. will play No. 10 Johns Hopkins (22-3) in the first round on Friday, at 1 p.m., at Stockton University in New Jersey. Should the Maccabees win they will face the  winner of No. 23 Stockton vs. Wilson College game in the second round on Saturdat at 9 p.m.

“I think we came out with real purpose on defense,” said Y.U. head coach Elliot Steinmetz, of Woodmere. “We spent a lot of time on scouting. We had a good film session [on Feb. 26], and I think our guys were really locked in in terms of what we were looking to take away, and it showed.”

Y.U. limited Manhattanville’s passing in the first 20 minutes, and contested nearly every shot. The Maccabees led 25-16 at halftime — the combined score roughly their point total in any given half, but the margin was kept relatively low by several Y.U. misfires.

As it has done so often during the season, Y.U. showed why it is a second-half team, as Turell (16 points) nailed a 3-pointer, junior swingman Matan Zucker (10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) swished a shot and junior guard Ofek Reef (12 points) hit another one that put the Maccabees up 32-16 less than 2½ minutes into the second half. Zucker was named the conference tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“We knew we had to come from the start,” said Leifer, a forward. “In every championship I’ve played in in the conference, we’ve always had to play from behind. I didn’t want to do that this year, and the team didn’t want to do that this year. We wanted them to play from behind, keep the lead and keep building on it, and that’s what we did.” Leifer had 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 points.

Yeshiva, seeded No. 3 in the Skyline tournament, stormed through it with three consecutive wins — 101-66 over SUNY Purchase in the quarterfinal, 89-62 over Mt. St. Vincent in the semifinals and the championship victory.

“This is the reason I came back to play in the game today, and play in the tournament — it’s awesome, it means everything,” said Leifer, a graduate student who said this would be his last season. “We worked hard. We had our ups and downs this year. More ups and downs than we’ve had in any of my other years.”

Leifer noted that after Yeshiva’s headline-making Dec. 30 home loss to nationally ranked Illinois Wesleyan University (now No. 5) and the end of the Maccabees’ 50-game winning streak, there was some tension in the locker room. There were also conference losses to SUNY Farmingdale and St. Joseph’s College of Long Island, as well as the program’s first win over a nationally ranked team, when Y.U. tagged then No. 5 University of St. Joseph, in Connecticut, with its first loss of the season.

“But we pulled it together and played our best game of the season when it counted the most,” Leifer said. “It wasn’t the best first half, but we closed it and we played defense, which we didn’t do so much the whole year. But it’s amazing. It’s an honor to play here, and it’s been a joy, and this is why I came back.”

The school also put on a show in the three conference playoff home games with special guests: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft at the quarterfinal game, former ESPN and CBS reporter Bonnie Bernstein at the semifinal and, at the final, Marc Lasry, an owner of the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks, joined by former NBA players Amar’e Stoudamire and Enes Kanter Freedom.

Being what school President Ari Berman called “the flagship Jewish university,” Yeshiva, its students and its athletic teams represent not only the school, but also the Jewish people.

“The people were excited being part of this event, because they knew it was more than just the school,” Berman said. “It was something that touches deep inside, and they wanted to support this team, and be a part of it and be a partner to this team, and it’s been amazing.”

The Maccabees basked in the glow of winning, collecting the conference trophy, taking part in the traditional cutting of the net and posing for photos with family and friends.

After one season cut short by Covid and another only seven games long, Steinmetz wanted his team to take it all in.

“I told our guys it’s important to have perspective to remember where we were two years ago, to remember where we were a year ago — not even having a real season — and then to recognize the opportunity that we have here to actually go and play through the end,” he said. “I really want them to understand that and take it to heart.”