POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Maritime men's basketball team dropped its non-conference finale to the Vassar Brewers on Monday afternoon by the score of 64-57.
 
Senior T'Vaughn Gibson (Freeport, Bahamas/Sunland Baptist Academy) led the team with a season-high 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the floor. Sophomore Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching) recorded 16 points on seven field goals, while rookie John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) picked up 12 points.
 
Leading the rebounding department was senior Sean Corley (Harlem, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) with nine boards, while Hayes was second on the team with six. Hayes and classmate Liam Ryan (Buffalo, N.Y./Nichols) led the team with two steals. Corley led the team with five assists on the game as well.
 
The game started with six straight points from Gibson on a trio of layups to give Maritime an early six-point advantage. After a pair of free throws from Vassar, Gibson stepped back for a three-pointer from the right elbow to put the Privateers ahead 9-2. Freshman Kevin Blessington (Lynbrook, N.Y./East Rockaway) got in on the scoring action off a quick dish from Corley to give the Privateers a nine-point lead.
 
Vassar came back and evened the contest at 16 with nine minutes to go in the opening half. The Brewers then went on an 11-2 run to take their largest lead of the half at eight points. The period ended with Hayes and Gibson collecting one basket each to pull Maritime within four at 30-26 heading into the halftime break.
 
Hayes got the Privateers off to a quick start in the second half with a layup just 13 seconds into the frame, Vassar then answered with five straight and then increased its lead to 12 with 14:47 to go in regulation.
 
The Privateers chipped away at the lead when Liccese stepped back for a three-pointer, followed by a Gibson tip-in off of a nice in-bounds play from Corley. The two connected again on a similar play moments later to pull Maritime back within four at 46-42. Vassar regained a double-figure lead at 10 points with just over seven minutes to go in the game.
 
However, Maritime refused to go down without a fight as Liccese, Gibson and Hayes, combined to go on an 11-2 run to pull the Privateers within one at 58-57 with 3:54 left in the period. However, Maritime was unable to tie or take a lead as Vassar closed out the game on a 6-0 run to escape with a 64-57 win.
 
 
Maritime (3-8, 1-3 Skyline) will resume league play on Thursday evening when the team takes a quick trip to Purchase for a 7 p.m. start in Westchester County. Vassar (5-7, 1-2 Liberty) will venture to Geneva, N.Y. for its next game against the Statesmen of Hobart College.