THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Maritime basketball team picked up its first conference win of the 2016-17 season with an 87-76 victory over the Merchant Marine Mariners on Saturday afternoon inside Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium.
 
As a team, Maritime converted on 12 three-point baskets for the second time this season, which is just one shy of the single-game record for the Privateers. The team also had a season-low eight turnovers, while adding a season-best 19 free throws on 79.2% from the line.
 
Senior Tim Hoch (Coventry, R.I./Fishers Island (N.Y.)) led the Privateers with a career-high 27 points, as he set a new program record for three-pointers in a game as he made eight of his 14 attempts. The previous record was held by Gerard Danzy '06, who knocked down seven three pointers in a road game against Mount St. Vincent in 2006.
 
Junior Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) tallied 23 points and also led with six rebounds on the game, while classmate Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching) scored 12 points and also led Maritime with two blocks and two steals.
 
Freshman Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) was 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc as he scored nine points, while junior John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) had eight points and a team-high seven assists. Senior Brendon Halligan (Durham, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) added five points and also had four assists on the game.
 
Maritime opened the game with six unanswered points as Hoch dropped a three pointer, and then added a free throw to put the Privateers ahead by four. MacDonald then connected on a layup to go up by six. Merchant Marine tied the game at 11 but MacDonald converted on a three-point play to give the Privateers the lead again.
 
After a layup from the Mariners, the Privateers connected on three consecutive three-point baskets as Hoch sank the first two, followed by a long range shot from McGovern. Merchant Marine trimmed the lead down to four, but Hoch knocked down another three-point basket to move the Privateers ahead by seven at 28-21 with 9:39 to go in the half.
 
Merchant Marine took a one-point lead at 31-30 with 7:04 to go, but the Privateers answered back with a three-pointer of their own as McGovern knocked down a ball off a pass from Hayes.
 
Trailing by two at 41-39, Maritime knocked down a three-pointer from Hoch and never turned back. The Privateers eventually got their lead back up to 47-44, which the team took into the halftime break.
 
Hayes got the second half started with a dunk, but Merchant Marine eventually got Maritime's lead down to one again at 51-50. The Privateers were able to get their lead back up to eight on several occasions in the ensuing minutes as Hoch and McGovern connected on three-pointers.
 
Merchant Marine was only able to get within five points through the remainder of the game, but the Privateers continued to convert on shots. An emphatic dunk by MacDonald put the exclamation point on the win with 2:13 to go as he made it a 10-point lead. The Privateers got the lead up to 13 with 23 seconds left, and closed out the game with an 87-76 victory.
 
Maritime (4-3, 1-1 Skyline) will visit Yeshiva on Thursday, December 8 with an 8 p.m. tip-off against the Maccabees from the Max Stern Athletic Center.
 
Merchant Marine (1-6, 0-2 Skyline) will look to regroup on Monday evening, with a 5 p.m. start against the Trinity (Conn.) Bantams in Hartford, Conn.