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Sarah Lawrence College Athletics

The Official Athletics Website of Sarah Lawrence College
MBB 2025 First Round
72
Winner Yeshiva YU 17-10,12-4 Skyline
69
Sarah Lawrence SLC 18-9,13-3 Skyline
Winner
Yeshiva YU
17-10,12-4 Skyline
72
Final
69
Sarah Lawrence SLC
18-9,13-3 Skyline
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Yeshiva YU 40 32 72
Sarah Lawrence SLC 36 33 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Zach Perbeck

Men's Basketball Wraps up Program-Best Campaign with Semifinal Nail-Biter against Yeshiva

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. - The Sarah Lawrence men's basketball team ended their 2024-25 season with a Skyline semifinal defeat at the hands of the Yeshiva Maccabees. The Gryphons got a career-best 28 points from first year Thomas Matonti but fell to the Maccabees 69-72.

Notable Performers
  • Matonti hit on six of his eight attempts from deep and 11 of his 13 total shots en route to his career-best performance
  • Braden Burman earned a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including a pair of triples
  • Chris Dougherty pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds while blocking a pair of shots for SLC

How it Happened

The Gryphons got going early, fueled by a full house at the Campbell Sports Center. Eamon Kelly opened the night's scoring efforts with a three-pointer before an Andrew Kim jumper and a Dougherty dunk opened up a 7-3 advantage and got the SLC fans on their feet. A pair of Burman scores would sandwich a YU basket and after four minutes and change played, the Gryphons held an 11-5 advantage. Zevi Samet would strike from distance to answer for YU, kicking off a 13-0 run for the visitors that gave them a seven-point lead with just under 11 minutes remaining in the half. Dougherty ended the scoring drought for the Gryphons, but it would be Matonti who struck just minutes later with five straight SLC points to keep the hosts within striking distance. After the first year's second score, the Maccabees scored five straight points to remain in control heading into the final five-and-a-half minutes. Another five points by Matonti helped reduce the lead to just two possessions before his third triple of the night brought the team within one score with under three to play. After a YU miss, the next SLC possession would sent the gym into a frenzy, as Burman connected on a triple of his own to tie the game with two-and-a-half minutes to play. The Gryphons would get a score by Kim in the final minutes, but it would be the visitors who scored six of the final eight points of the half to carry a four-point advantage into halftime.

The Maccabees went to their player of the year to start the second half, with Samet scoring the team's first seven points of the half. Dean Furlong, Kelly, Burman and Lemar Fulmore Jr. would all register scores early for SLC, keeping the Gryphons within striking distance as they trailed by five with 15 minutes to play. Samet would continue to strike, hitting another triple to extend the YU lead to eight before an Or Sundjyvsky layup gave the Maccabees a double-digit lead with just under 14 to play. Matonti took over once again for SLC, scoring the game's next seven points to single-handedly bring the Gryphons within one possession of the lead, erasing YU's double-digit lead by the 10-minute mark. The Maccabees would build a two-possession lead until a long-range delivery from Kelly got the crowd going once again with seven minutes left, cutting the lead to four. The Maccabees would continue to score, but another five-point swing by Matonti helped keep the Gryphons close. Another Samet score gave the team a seven-point advantage with 1:57 remaining. After a minute and change of scoreless basketball, Kelly would make his way to the line after being fouled on a three-pointer, converting on all three shots to reduce the lead to four. After a pair of free throws by YU, it would once again be Matonti to step up for the Gryphons, connecting on a triple to bring the hosts within one possession of the lead as 27 seconds remained on the clock. A rare slip-up by Samet would give the Gryphons the ball back with 23 seconds but a pair of contested last-second shots would fall short as the Maccabees escaped Bronxville with a victory.

Season recap

The second-seeded Gryphons (18-9, Skyline 13-3) wrap up a program-best season for the Gryphons, which saw the team host their first-ever playoff game on Tuesday before welcoming YU for Thursday's semifinal matchup. The Gryphons set program-bests in both overall and conference wins while head coach Chris Ehmer surpassed the 100-win mark and Eamon Kelly earned another all-conference nod. The team will lose senior Peter Fathi to graduation, but will return many key contributors, including Kelly, Matonti and Dougherty.