Yeshiva knocked out in Sweet 16, as Zevi Samet scores 43 in his last game with Maccabees
YU coach predicts future success for team despite graduation of several top players, including Samet, who says highlight of his time at school was the ‘awesome friendships’ he made
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JTA — The Yeshiva University Maccabees ended their NCAA championship run on Friday with a Sweet 16 loss to the Emory University Eagles.
The 101-80 loss to a higher-seeded team came amid the “electric atmosphere” that fans of the Orthodox flagship had promised, with star Zevi Samet putting up 43 points in his last game with the Maccabees and fans from near and far outnumbering the home crowd in Atlanta.
Videos posted by Maccabees Live showed YU fans cheering Samet, the team’s all-time top scorer and the holder of the record for most points scored in a single game, with 52.
In a postgame press conference, Samet was asked about his greatest accomplishment during his four years at YU.
“I think that’s an easy question,” he answered. “Getting to spend Shabbat together, Shabbos with all the guys, getting to spend minyan together every day after practice … The basketball part is fun, but at the end of the day, we’re here in this world for a bigger purpose. And I think friendship is one of the most powerful things. And fact that I’ve been able to build awesome friendships is probably my biggest accomplishment.”
Coach Elliot Steinmetz, who has built the YU program over more than a decade, said that even though several of the Maccabees’ strongest players were graduating, he anticipated more success ahead for his team.
Yeshiva fans thanking Zevi Samet for 4 amazing years pic.twitter.com/PyRoEMknM7
— MacsLive (@MacsLive) March 13, 2026
Just because it was the first time the Maccabees were playing in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament (after having a game canceled by the pandemic in 2020), he said, doesn’t mean the team is resting on its laurels.
“I’m probably proud of the fact that these guys are sitting here upset that they lost as opposed to just happy that they were here,” Steinmetz said.
The Times of Israel Community.