Box Score ALBANY, N.Y. (February 12, 2014) – In a road Skyline Conference contest, the Maritime basketball team fell on Wednesday evening to the Sage Gators by the score of 81-77 at the Kahl Gymnasium.
 
Maritime trailed by as many 14 points in the early stages of the second half, but was able to stage a strong comeback in the waning minutes to close the gap to three points in the last minutes. However, the Privateers were unable to cap off the comeback to as the team dropped the close contest.
 
Junior Sean Corley (Harlem, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) led the Privateers with 22 points and a career-high eight steals. Classmate T'Vaughn Gibson (Freeport, Bahamas/Sunland Baptist Academy) tied a season-high with five three-pointers made as he finished the game with 20 points. Freshman Kevin Heine (Frederick, Md./Oakdale) added 13 points off the bench and also led the team with seven rebounds on the night.
 
After the Gators jumped out to a 2-0 lead, Maritime answered with its first basket of the game from Corley on a layup. Corley then added a free throw to give the Privateers the early 3-2 edge. The score remained close through the first eight minutes of the game as neither side took more than a one-possession lead.
 
Through the latter portion of the opening period, Sage began to build up a lead including a nine-point edge that Maritime trimmed down to a three-point deficit after a pair of baskets by Heine, and one from classmate Bobby Parlow (Bay Head, N.J./Point Pleasant Beach). The Gators opened up a double-digit lead through the final 68 seconds of the half to head into the locker with an 11-point lead at 42-31.
 
In the second half, Sage looked to get more breathing room on the scoreboard and did take a 14-point advantage with 15:37 left in regulation. However, Maritime refused to quit and kicked off an 11-2 run that was ignited by three consecutive three-point baskets by Gibson.
 
Sage then got back into a scoring rhythm once again and went shot-for-shot with the Privateers over the next several minutes, while slowly opening up another 10-point advantage with 9:56 left in the game. Both sides then went ice cold from the floor as the score held at 66-56 for nearly two minutes of game time until Sage hit a jumper and free throw at 8:01.
 
After the and-one free throw, Gibson once again stepped back for a three-point basket to pull the Privateers back within 10. Freshman Emmett Keane (Maspeth, N.Y./St. John's Prep) sank a pair from a line followed by a Privateer steal and layup from Parlow as once again Maritime pulled back within six with 5:35 left in the game.
 
A Sage layup gave the Gators a 72-64 lead, but Corley went 1-for-1 at the stripe, followed by a Sage layup with 2:24 left. Corley then took the next Maritime offensive possession and pulled back for a three-pointer and drilled it to close the gap to a six-point deficit.
 
A Corley steal with 43 seconds left gave Maritime a chance to pull within four and the Privateers did just that as freshman Brendon Halligan (Durham, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) sank a shot from beyond the arc. The Privateers played the foul game and put Sage back at the line, where the Gators converted on both shots. Two possessions later Gibson drilled yet another second half three-point basket to trim the lead to three with eight seconds left in the game.
 
The Gators went 1-for-2 at the line to take a two-possession lead with three ticks left on the clock. Corley attempted a last-second three-pointer but it didn't go down the cylinder as Maritime fell by an 81-77 score as the final buzzer sounded.
 
The Privateers shot 46% from the floor to mark their third highest success rate this season; the Gators also sank just short of half of their shots at 49%. Maritime also sank nine three-point baskets, and also shot 75% from the free throw line for the second straight game.
 
Maritime (3-19, 1-14 Skyline) will look to its strong finish tonight and try to turn it into momentum for its next game this Saturday at 1 p.m. when the team hosts Old Westbury at Riesenberg Gym. Sage (14-8, 10-5 Skyline) will face a tough task in its next game on the road against Farmingdale at 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.