Throggs Neck, NY – Senior center Robert Benton (Montgomery, Ala./G.W. Carver) (Montgomery, AL/GW Carver) had a career high of 33 points off the bench for the Maritime, but it would still not be enough as the Privateers fall to the top team in the Skyline, Mount Saint Mary College, by a score of 95-71 Saturday evening in a men’s basketball Skyline Conference game hosted by Maritime.

 

Mount Saint Mary took an early lead, but the Privateers managed to battle back to keep the deficit in single digits for a majority of the first half. At the intermission, the Blue Knights held a 49-34 point lead, following a quick run a tthe end of the half.   

 

Trailing by as much as 20 points in the early goings of the second half, a Maritime run cut the lead in half with the Privateers now only trailing by 10 points with 12 minutes left to go. Things seemed to be shifting in Maritime’s direction, but without notice, Mount Saint Mary’s defensive traps and quick baskets quickly pushed them back up to a 20 point lead with just under nine minutes left to go.

 

It would be all Mount Saint Mary after that point, with an occasional run by Maritime. Against the top scoring team in the conference, the second best scoring defense was able to keep the Blue Knights to only 91 points. Mount Saint Mary's scored well over a hundred points in their last three games.

 

The Blue Knights were led by junior guard Mike Hoyt (Florida, NY/SS Seward) who scored 26 points and senior guard Brandon Weldon (Elmsford, NY/Alexander Hamilton) also had 26 points. Senior forward Julio Ramirez (Queens, NY/Hyde Prep), who finished tonight with 16 points, scored 15 in the second half. Combined, Hoyt, Weldon and Ramirez tallied 68 of the Blue Knights 91 points.

 

Senior guard Gerard Danzy (Monroeville, Ala./Hillcrest) (Monroeville, NY/Hillcrest) added 14 points, six assists and five steals for the Privateers, while sophomore guard Nikero Barbes (Freeport, Bahamas/Freeport Angelican) (Freeport, Bahamas/Anglican) added 10 points and eight rebounds. For Benton, his prior career high was 28 points scored against Centenary College on January 8th, 2005.

 

The Privateers will get a small rest as they return to action on Tuesday, January 24th when they will host the Rams of Farmingdale State. These two teams met back on December 8th and it was the Rams sneaking past the Privateers with a 74-70 win. Farmingdale comes into the game with a 10-4 record, 6-1 in the Skyline and are now in a tie with Mount Saint Mary for first place. The last time the Rams took the court, they took one on the chin, losing to Kings Point by 30 points, while the Privateers only lost to Kings Point by two points a few days earlier. Tuesday’s game is shaping up to be another close battle, as the Privateers are still in search of their first conference win of the year.

 

 

– Maritime –

Team Stat Comparison
	Mt St Mary	Maritime
Points	95	71
FG Made-Attempted	38-69 (.551)	28-56 (.500)
3P Made-Attempted	8-20 (.400)	4-14 (.286)
FT Made-Attempted	11-15 (.733)	11-18 (.611)
Rebounds (Off-Def-Tot)	13-22-35	9-21-30
Assists	13	21
Turnovers	16	24
Steals	9	6
Blocks	1	1
Bench Points	13	33
Fouls (Tech)	20 (none)	17 (none)
Largest Lead	26	2