NEW YORK – Yeshiva University closed the game on a 10-3 run to earn a 61-57 victory over the Amherst College men's basketball team on Sunday afternoon at the Stern Athletic Center. Sophomore guard Zevi Samet led the Maccabees with 20 points and 5 rebounds in a tight, back-and-forth matchup that featured 9 ties and 12 lead changes.

Yeshiva, the reigning champions of the Skyline Conference, improved to 4-3 this season while Amherst fell to 2-3.

The Mammoths are right back in action Monday (Nov. 28), hosting NVU-Johnson at 7 p.m. in the home opener at LeFrak Gymnasium.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* First-year Dothan Bardichev opened the scoring with a three for the Maccabees but the Mammoths responded with back-to-back threes from sophomores Canin Reynolds and Noah Helmke to take an 8-5 lead.

* Bardichev and Oten Betesh hit back-to-back threes to give Yeshiva a 16-10 lead before the Mammoths reeled off nine straight points, including three-pointers from senior Will Phelan and sophomore C.J. Mitchell, to gain a three-point edge.

* The Maccabees answered with an 11-0 run to go up by eight on a Samet three but the Mammoths followed with another 9-0 run of their own as senior Michael Schretter scored on back-to-back possessions before a three from Mitchell but the Mammoths up, 28-27, with 2:42 to play in the first half.

* Samet hit a three-pointer at the buzzer in the first half to give the Maccabees a 33-30 halftime lead.

* Mitchell hit a three early in the second half to tie the score at 35-35, then answered Yeshiva's next two scores to keep the game even at 39-39.

* After the Maccabees took a six-point lead, the Mammoths again chipped away and held Yeshiva off the board until first-year Chris Hammond hit a layup with 8:29 on the clock to give Amherst a 49-48 lead.

* Betesh knocked down a three with 6:40 to go to put Yeshiva up by two, then both teams were held scoreless for over two minutes until Amherst first-year Giovanni Tam scored as he was fouled and hit the free throw to give the Mammoths a 52-51 lead with 4:25 to play.

* Sophomore Bobby Sommers increased the Amherst lead to three with a layup at the 2:40 mark but from there the Maccabees scored eight straight points to secure the win. Samet converted an and-one to tie the game and a Bardichev layup gave Yeshiva a 56-54 lead with 1:45 to go. A minute later, first-year Roy Itcovichi completed a three-point play to put Yeshiva up by five.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Mitchell led the Mammoths with a career-high 15 points while first-year Charlie Randall added 10 for back-to-back double-figure games.

* Sophomore Ryker Vance grabbed a game-high eight rebounds for the Mammoths and Randall added seven boards as Amherst held a 35-23 advantage in rebounds.

* The Mammoths shot 22-of-43 (51 percent) from the floor, the team's best field goal percentage of the season, and 9-of-18 (50 percent) from beyond the arc, Amherst's best three-point percentage in a game since January 2020. The Mammoths were especially hot in the first half, shooting 12-of-17 (71 percent) from the floor and 5-of-6 (83 percent) from beyond the arc.

* Yeshiva shot 22-of-52 (42 percent) from the floor and 11-of-26 (42 percent) from beyond the arc.

* The Maccabees capitalized on 26 Amherst turnovers, scoring 30 points off turnovers, while the Mammoths netted 16 points off 15 Yeshiva turnovers.