New York, NY (Feb. 23, 2016) – Meeting for the second time in four days, No. 4 Yeshiva University turned around a final regular-season defeat to Purchase College Saturday into a Skyline Conference First-Round victory Tuesday night at home.

YU topped the fifth-seeded Panthers 69-62 in a game it trailed 6-0 at the outset before managing to erase the early deficit and take a seven-point lead at halftime (30-23) – one the Maccabees, backed by a boisterous home crowd, would not relinquish in the second half. The Panthers, who finish the season at 13-13, showed their mettle in the second, taking a double-digit deficit down to single digits, but ultimately YU's strong start at the Max Stern Athletic Center, its points off turnovers (17) and its fast break points (12) sealed the win.    

Now, YU will advance to face No. 1 Old Westbury on Thursday night. The loss ends Purchase's season, the first under new head coach Kyle Martin, who improved the program's win record with essentially the same roster from a year ago. Purchase won nine games and lost by 16 points in the first round at the College of Mount Saint Vincent last February.

This contest was much different.

Fresh off a 77-75 road win over the Macs on Saturday night, the Panthers led by six in the first three minutes and the game went back-and-forth throughout, with Purchase staying within five for most of the first 10 minutes of the second half.

But YU's shooting, both from the field and at the free-throw line, coupled with the aforementioned combination of points off turnovers and on the fast break, helped the hosts hold off a late surge by the Panthers.

In the loss, Purchase was led by Taylor Foster (SR/Greenburgh, NY). He finished with a team-high 17 points. Nicholas Jackson (SR/Brooklyn, NY) added 16 off the bench, and Julian Wright (SR/Mount Vernon, NY) netted 10 points and seven boards in a nice effort – the final of his Panther career. Wright, Foster and Jackson are among seven seniors who played their last game for Purchase.

Yeshiva (15-11) had eight players score points in the contest, including the potent one-two punch of Shaje Weiss and Shelby Rosenberg, who paced the Macs with 21 and 11 points, respectively. Weiss added nine rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals to headline the win. Rosenberg, a 1,000-point career scorer, also hauled in 13 rebounds in a double-double effort to go along with two assists, one block and one steal.