Lions Place an Impressive Third in LA Glouberman Tournament

by Aryeh Halpert (’17)

The MTA Varsity Basketball team arrived in Los Angeles late last Wednesday night and, following a short night’s sleep, got right to work playing an 8 A.M. game against Frisch. Immediately after the Frisch game, they played a 10:30 game against Valley Torah. The Lions played strong defense in both games holding the opponent to 40 and 41 points respectively, but the offense struggled so they failed to come away with a win. Following Thursday’s games, they were seeded 7th and matched up with the hometown Shalhevet FireHawks. In front of a packed house, MTA took down the hometown favorite behind Aryeh Halpert (’17)’s 15 points and Eli Gruenburg (’17)’s 14 points, with Halpert’s two free throws icing the win by a final score of 50-47. The Lions went into Shabbos tired but excited and enjoyed the western hospitality of the tournament over a relaxing Shabbos before heading into a Saturday night rematch against Frisch in the semi-finals. The Lions fell behind early in the first half, but after a circus shot at the third quarter buzzer by Gruenburg and two 3’s by Halpert and Gruenburg respectively, the game was tied at 38. Frisch then took a 4 point lead, but unfortunately, MTA failed to complete the comeback, as the game tying layup rolled out. The Lions beat YULA in the 3rd place game the next day behind Meir Jacoby (’17)’s 20 points to finish third in the tournament. The Lions look to improve on their performance in the Glouberman Tournament and have high expectations for both the Yeshiva League and the Sarachek Tournament at YU.