OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – The Maritime men's basketball team dropped a close Skyline Conference matchup on Wednesday evening, as the Privateers fell to the Old Westbury Panthers by the score of 79-72 in overtime from the Clark Athletic Center.
 
Freshman John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led the team in scoring with 24 points, while classmate Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) had 14 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double. Senior T'Vaughn Gibson (Freeport, Bahamas/Sunland Baptist Academy) collected 13 points, while sophomore Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching) netted 12 points.
 
The game began with Old Westbury dropping a three-pointer, but sophomore Brendon Halligan (Durham, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) responded with a mid-range jumper for the first Privateer points of the night. The Privateers got even for the first time on the night when MacDonald pulled down an offensive rebound and put back the layup to knot the game at eight.
 
The Panthers rolled out the next five points, but Hayes ended the quick run with a running layup from the right side. Liccese evened up the score at 13 after a three-point basket from the right elbow off a pass from Hayes. The Privateers took their first lead of the game at 15-13 off a Liccese layup, who then sank the ensuing free throw to increase the team's lead to three.
 
MacDonald and Liccese highlighted the score sheet through the remainder of the half, as the rookies combined for 22 of Maritime's 31 points in the first half. Gibson had a chance to give the Privateers a lead heading into the break but only made 1-of-3 from the charity stripe to even the game at 31 at intermission.
 
After halftime the Panthers held an early lead through the first five minutes of the half, the Privateers then came back to take a 39-37 lead on a floating jumper by Gibson. Liccese then drilled a three-pointer off a skip pass from Corley, to put Maritime ahead by five. On the next Old Westbury possession, Hayes stole the ball and ran the length of the court to jam home a dunk and put his team up by five.
 
The game was tied on two more occassions at 46 points with 10:22 to go, and then again at 51 following a free throw from sophomore Liam Ryan (Buffalo, N.Y./Nichols) with 7:52 remaining. With less than three minutes to go in the game the Panthers had opened up a 10-point lead at 63-53, but the firey Privateers refused to go down.
 
Liccese got things started with a floating jumper in the lane, followed by two free throws from Hayes. After a pair at the line from Old Westbury, Gibson took a pass from Corley and drained a three-point basket , then followed that up after a Corley steal and pass for a quick layup to make the score 65-62. Liccese and Hayes each hit a free throw, but the Panthers answered with two at the line as well.
 
With 35 seconds to go it was once again Gibson to come up with a clutch three-pointer as he hit another long-range shot from the right elbow to knot the game at 67. The Privateers forced a turnover on the next Panther possession, but with time exiring Gibson launched a three-quarter length heave that barely missed to send the game to overtime.
 
In the extra session, Hayes sank 1-of-2 from the line followed by a MacDonald layup to send Maritime ahead by three. Old Westbury then took a one-point lead, which was then tied and overtaken on a pair of Liccese free throws. The Panthers then closed out the game on an 8-0 run and hung on for the 79-72 win.

Maritime (5-12, 3-7 Skyline) will resume conference play on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., when the team welcomes in Farmingdale to the Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium. Old Westbury (6-10, 6-3 Skyline) will also play in conference action Sarah Lawrence on Saturday afternoon at 12 p.m. at the Clark Athletic Center.