NEWBURGH, N.Y. – It was an historic afternoon for Maritime junior Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) as the Maritime basketball team knocked off the Mount St. Mary Knights by the score of 82-72 at the Kaplan Center.
 
MacDonald netted 20 points on the game with his eighth point of the afternoon coming on a free throw and solidifying him as the 13th individual in program history to record 1,000 career points.
 
In addition to his point-scoring prowess, MacDonald also pulled down 15 rebounds to give him a season total of 261 boards to set a new single-season record in modern program history, breaking his own record of 253 from a season ago. For his career, MacDonald has registered 637 rebounds moving him into second place on the all-time rebounds list. The all-time rebounding record is 739 held by Giovanni Hurley '11.
 
Junior John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led the Privateers with 22 points, sinking a team-best 10 field goals in the process. Senior Tim Hoch (Coventry, R.I./Fishers Island (N.Y.)) was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc as he was third on the team with 14 points on the afternoon.
 
Senior Brendon Halligan (Durham, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) also reached double-figures as he picked up 10 points, including a pair from three-point land. Junior Tim McQuail (Middle Village, N.Y./Cathedral Prep) added four points and was second on the team with six rebounds including a team-high three offensive boards. Junior Akil Spruill (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) and freshman Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) each had five points, while rookie Malik Clark (Central Islip, N.Y./Central Islip) added a bucket.
 
The Privateers and Knights locked horns early as the two sides played a close contest through the opening stages of the first half. Mount St. Mary took the first two-possession lead of the game with a 19-14 lead with 14:34 left in the first half but MacDonald connected on a free throw to make it a one-score game once again.
 
Maritime regained the lead with 6:31 left in the half as Spruill connected on a layup. Mount St. Mary answered and reclaimed the lead but Liccese answered with two consecutive layups to propel the Privateers into a 34-31 lead. MacDonald made it a 6-0 run for Maritime with a mid-range jumper with 4:44 left in the half.
 
With 4:28 left in the half, MacDonald was fouled and went to the line just one point shy of 1,000 for his career and connected on the first of the one-and-one to reach the millennium mark for his career. MacDonald became the first to reach the 1,000 point mark since T'Vaughn Gibson '15 reached the plateau almost two years to the day on February 14, 2015 against Purchase.
 
Maritime continued to close out the opening half on a strong run as the Privateers went into the locker room with a 41-33 advantage after the first 20 minutes of play.
 
In the second half, the Privateers continued to add to its lead as Hoch opened the period with a long-range shot to put Maritime ahead by 11. After a layup from the Knights, Maritime rolled to 12 more unanswered points from Hoch, MacDonald and Liccese to open up a 56-35 lead with 16:47 left in the contest. After another Knight layup, Hoch drilled a three-pointer to give Maritime its largest lead of the game at 22 points.
 
Mount St. Mary responded with 11 straight points to trim the lead in half before Liccese put an end to the run with a layup, followed by a layup from Clark for his only basket of the game. The Knights continued to slice into the Privateer lead, but Maritime had just enough in the tank to hold off the surging Mount St. Mary squad.
 
After a pair of free throws from Halligan and a layup by Liccese gave Maritime a 73-65 lead with five minutes left, the Knights scored the next five points to make it a one-possession game again.
 
Liccese nailed a clutch jumper, while Halligan added another pair from the stripe with under a minute left to put the Privateers up by seven. Mount St. Mary got a layup with 31 seconds left, but it was not enough as Hoch and MacDonald each sank a pair from the line, while Spruill was 1-for-2 to seal the win for Maritime.
 
The win snaps Maritime's eight-game road losing streak, to give the Privateers their first road win since November 22 over Vassar. Saturday's game was the last for Maritime away from Riesenbeg Hall Gymnasium, as the final three games of the regular season will be at home for the Privateers.
 
Maritime (9-13, 4-9 Skyline) will return home on Tuesday night as the Privateers will play host to the Gryphons of Sarah Lawrence for a 7 p.m. start.
 
Tuesday's game will be a 'red out' and fans attending the game are encouraged to wear red. If you are unable to make it to the game, live stats and live video coverage of the game will be available at MaritimeAthletics.com.
 
Mount St. Mary (11-11, 6-8 Skyline) will be on the road for the remainder of the season beginning with a trip to Merchant Marine on Tuesday evening for a 7 p.m. start from Liebertz Gymnasium in Kings Point, N.Y.