Zevi Samet is a star of the Yeshiva University Maccabees men’s basketball team. (Kodiak Creative/Jimmy Naprstek)

(JTA) — Yeshiva University’s March Madness run has once again ended after just one game.

The Maccabees fell in the first round of the NCAA DIII men’s basketball tournament to the Tufts Jumbos 83-66 on Friday, a loss in which they trailed by a significant margin for nearly the whole game. The score was 45-25 at halftime, and though Y.U. pulled within nine in the second half, they came up short.

The Macs entered the tournament after a thrilling Skyline Conference championship in which they beat the Farmingdale State Rams 81-78, with star guard Zevi Samet hitting the winning three-pointer. Samet was the team’s lead scorer in Friday’s game, posting 29 points.

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This was Y.U.’s first trip to the NCAA tourney since 2022, when they also lost in the first round after a 25-4 season behind forward Ryan Turell that captivated Jewish basketball fans. Turell is now playing professionally in Israel.

This year team was 18-10 in the regular season, a campaign made harder and more meaningful, said coach Elliot Steinmetz, by the ongoing war and hostage crisis in Israel.

“Of course the last year and half has hit all of us hard,” Steinmetz said before Friday’s game. “The constant focus on what’s going on with our brethren in Israel is something we don’t forget for a second.”

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