The men’s basketball team earned their first victory of the season with a 77-57 victory at Yeshiva University on Tuesday night in New York City.

The game was tied at 39 with 13:37 left but the Bearcats went on a game-busting 24-6 run over the next nine minutes to lead 63-45. The run was enough to clinch their fourth straight victory over the Maccabees.

Senior center Phil Schatz (Middle Village, NY/Archbishop Molloy) led the way again with 21 points (10-15 fg) and missed a double-double by just one rebound (9). He scored 15 total points in the second half on seven-of-nine shooting.

The backcourt duo of Adrian Serrano (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) and freshman Tammer Farid (Woodside, NY/Stuyvesant) each scored 16 points.

Forward George Kunkel (Glendale, NY/Archbishop Molloy) added seven points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.  

The Bearcats improved their shooting by finishing at 51.8 percent (29-56) and out-rebounded their Skyline Conference rival by a 37-25 margin.  

Yeshiva had a balanced attack with David Schaulewicz (East Brunswick, NJ/Kushner Yeshiva), Shuki Merlis (Atlanta, GA/Yeshiva Atlanta) and Zachary Gordon (Miami, FL/RASG Hebrew Academy) each scoring 11 points.

Yeshiva opened the game with a 3-pointer but that was as close as they would get to build any big lead against the Bearcats.

The men’s basketball team will return to action on Monday night, November 26th, with a 7:00 pm non-conference road game at Farmingdale State University.