PURCHASE, N.Y. – Let's run the 2022 title game back! Two of the Skyline's finest in men's hoops square off in Kennedy Gymnasium on Thursday afternoon as the No. 2 Manhattanville College men's basketball team hosts No. 3 Yeshiva University in the Conference Championship semifinals. The two finalists from a year ago will meet a round earlier this go around with the winner punching their ticket to the championship game.
How We Got Here
It was anything but easy for the Valiants in their first round matchup, narrowly edging out the seventh-seeded Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins 69-66. Manhattanville shot just .344 from the field, their lowest shooting percentage in a win and their third lowest overall this season. Far from an opportune time to lose your shot, Manhattanville showed their tenacity to get things done on a night when the shots weren't falling.

Tommy Lotito (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) and Andrew Saint-Louis (Norwalk, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) led the way by combining for 38 points as the team's two scorers in double-figures, but the duo really only got going in the second half. After combining for just five points between the two of them in the opening 20 minutes, Lotito and Saint-Louis took charge with 34 second half points. They would need all of them, as the Dolphins cut a once 11 point lead all the way down to one with 14 seconds to go before Lotito drilled a pair of crucial free throws to close out the win.

In the other first round matchup, the Maccabees had their hands full as well as they took on No. 6 Saint Joseph's-Long Island. With the Golden Eagles already besting Yeshiva earlier this season, Saint Joseph's knocked the Maccabees on their heels with an 11 point lead late in the first. However, Yeshiva proved why they are the reigning conference champs as they outscored Saint Joseph's 47-30 in the second half to earn a 67-58 victory. Four Yeshiva players reached double figures in the win, led by 19 from Zevi Samet.

Last Time Out
While their championship bout in last year gets the primary focus in this postseason rematch, the two teams did face off once in the regular season in a cross-divisional matchup. In what was Manhattanville's conference opener back on Nov. 29 inside Kennedy, the Maccabees earned an 85-81 victory. Samet was Yeshiva's offensive catalyst in that one as he went off for 27 points, nearly matched on Manhattanville's end by a career-high 26 point effort from Jackson Leech (Chicago, Ill./Von Steuben). Lotito added 22 while Jake Dunn (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) scored 13 for Manhattanville's top performers. For the Macs, Oren Betesh, Roy Itcovichi and Matan Zucker also reached double-figures.

In the 2022 Championship game, the Maccabees raised the Conference Championship following a 74-40 win. Ryan Giordano (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) was one of the only Valiants that found offensive success in the matchup with 12 points.

Team Leaders
Manhattanville

• Points Per Game: Lotito (17.0), Leech (13.2), Dunn (8.6)
• Rebounds Per Game: Leech (7.0), Lotito (6.4), Giordano (4.8)
• Assists Per Game: Lotito (4.2), Giordano (1.6), Dunn (1.4)
• Steals Per Game: Lotito (1.8), Dunn (0.9), Scanlon (0.8)
• Field Goal Percentage: Leech (.500), Lotito (.498), Giordano (.489)

Yeshiva

• Points Per Game: Samet (21.7), Zakheim (16.4), Betesh (11.7)
• Rebounds Per Game: Zucker (8.5), Samet (4.3), Zakheim (4.2)
• Assists Per Game: Zucker (4.6), Itcovichi (2.3), Betesh (2.0)
• Steals Per Game: Zakheim (1.6), Zucker (1.3), Samet/Bardichev (1.2)
• Field Goal Percentage: Itcovichi (.555), Natkin (.533), Freundlich (.517)

History

• All-Time Record: 12-14
• Streak: Yeshiva W6
• Last 10: Yeshiva 7-3
• Series Record at Manhattanville: Manhattanville 7-6
• Scores From Last Five Meetings:
  • 11/29/2022: Yeshiva 85, Manhattanville 81
  • 2/27/2022: Manhattanville 40, Yeshiva 74
  • 11/28/2022: Manhattanville 56, Yeshiva 78
  • 2/14/2021: Manhattanville 73, Yeshiva 94
  • 2/13/2021: Yeshiva 98, Manhattanville 76

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