Purchase, NY (Feb. 25, 2018) – Yeshiva University has won their first-ever Skyline Conference men's basketball championship.

No. 4 Yeshiva held off No. 2 Purchase, 87-81, Sunday in the league final. It's YU's first hoops crown for a program that has been in existence for over 100 years. The Macs now receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAAs, which open next weekend.

Purchase's successful season comes to an end in the conference title game. The Panthers say goodbye to a heralded senior class in the process.

YU's Simcha Halpert was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. He scored a game-high 25 points, making five 3-pointers on the day, including a circus shot down the stretch that turned the game in the Maccabees' favor late.

The 3 loomed large for the Macs. who would go on to hit 16 of them on the day, good for 53 percent from downtown. 

Purchase, which trailed 43-35 at halftime, held a 12-point lead across the first seven minutes of the first half, but YU rallied with the long ball. Sharp shooter Justin Hod scored 18 first-half points, hitting all six of his three-point attempts.

Purchase was led by Deshawn Cann (JR/Queens, NY), who had 10 points in the first half and finished tied with teammate Tarik Allicock (SR/Brooklyn, NY) for the team lead in points with 19. Allicock also added eight rebounds, five blocks (game high), three assists and one steal in the loss. Panther guard Nikeem Deleon (SR/Bronx, NY) nearly netted a triple-double, settling for a double-double by going for 14 points, hauling in a game-high 11 rebounds (shared high with YU's Gabriel Leifer) and adding a game-high eight assists.   

YU's Bar Alluf scored a three-point play out of the break, as the visitors took a 46-35 advantage – the largest lead at that point – to kick start second half.

Allicock blocked a shot and then went down the other end and scored to bring Purchase back within nine points (46-37).

YU led 49-37 two-plus minutes into the final period.

Leifer bumped that margin to 51-37 on a score.

Deleon and Purchase answered back on a score in the paint (52-39).  

Allicock cut the deficit to 11 (52-41) on a score on the next possession.

Following a make by YU, Cann scored off a nice assist from Brian Berrios (SR/New York, NY). That cut YU's lead to 54-43.

A Berrios fast break trimmed it to 54-47 moments later, as Purchase put together a spurt.

Two free throws by Allicock made it a five-point game (54-49) in favor of the visitors.

Allicock then grabbed an offensive rebound and put the layup back up and in to make it a three-point game (54-51).

Purchase's Michael Soffer (JR/Agoura Hills, CA) tied the contest on a 3-pointer, but Tyler Hod answered right back with a 3 that gave YU a 57-54 lead.  
Berrios nailed a 3-pointer to make it 58-57 in favor of Purchase.

Halpert scored to seize the lead back. YU led 59-58 on the hoop.  

The see-saw affair continued. YU took the lead on free throws (63-62) under 10 minutes.

Allicock cut the deficit to one, 65-64, two possessions later.  

But Leifer made it 67-64 on a score before Berrios free throws brought Purchase back within one, 67-66, as the Panther guard connected on both from the charity stripe.

Deleon trimmed deficit to two, 70-68, from the line, but Alluf hit a 3 to re-extend to a five-point lead (73-68).

It was 75-68 with three-plus minutes left, when Daniel Katz scored off an offensive rebound for Yeshiva.

The Macs held a 76-70 lead with two-plus minutes left and then essentially sealed the game on the aforementioned 3-pointer by Halpert with time running down on the shot clock. Halpert chucked a 3 as the buzzer was about to expire that caromed off the backboard and in. That made it 79-70.

It was 79-72 with a little over a minute left and then 80-72 on a made free throw by Leifer.

Allicock free throws cut it to six, 80-74, but with :52 seconds left, YU won the free-throw battle to win its first championship.

Both halves were filled with end-to-end action for both programs. The two traded 3s to start the game. Back-to-back scores by Deleon made it 7-3 in favor of Purchase. Cann pushed that lead to 9-5 on a score, but YU responded and cut it to one (9-8) before Purchase's electrifying 10-0 run.

A Cann steal and bucket made it 15-8 in favor of the hosts.

Soffer made it 17-8 at 15:08 in the first half, as it looked like Purchase might run away with the title game early.

The Panthers led 19-8 and 23-11. 

However, YU went on a 13-0 run, fueled by Justin Hod. That run made it 24-23. 

Purchase showed its resilience and tied the game at 27-27 with five-and-a-half minutes to play in the first half. A Cann jumper made it 30-30 shortly after.

But Justin Hod stayed hot and perfect from deep, helping YU go on top 36-32, and eventually by eight at the break. 

The Macs opened their largest lead of the game, 15, in the second half and held off Purchase over the last three minutes for the upset win – the Panthers' first loss at home this season.