Box Score The Maritime College men's basketball team mounted a big second half comeback Friday night against SUNY New Paltz, but they couldn't come up the big plays down the stretch and fell 77-73.
 
The Privateers struggled to come out strong in the opening half for the second straight road game and found themselves trailing by double digits within the first five minutes. However, Maritime showed its ability to fight back once again and tied the game at 23 following a couple big three-point shots from Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point).
 
The Hawks were able to respond with a 21-7 run to close out the half and entered the locker room leading 44-30.
 
However, the Privateers were able to refocus at halftime and begin to mount their comeback.
 
"It was all about the defensive end," said Ronan Doherty (Danbury, Conn./Immaculate). "We couldn't score 14 points in one basket so we just had to focus on one stop at a time and slowly chip away at the lead."
 
Maritime buckled down on defense as they switched over to a zone to come up with the stops they needed. Offensively, Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) was to slice up the Hawks defense and cause trouble with his dribble penetration. The sophomore guard helped lead the efficient comeback for the Privateers as they shot 48.5 percent from the field in the second half.
 
Maritime's hard work paid off as they eventually tied the game at 69 with around 2 and a half minutes remaining. Both teams struggled to make the big play offensively down the stretch until New Paltz came up with a big corner three to take a 74-71 lead with just under a minute left on the clock. Whelan was able to respond two possessions later with a quick driving layup and the Privateers quickly fouled to put the Hawks at the line with the one-point lead.
 
New Paltz missed the back end of the one-and-one and Maritime had a chance to take its first lead of the game with under 20 seconds remaining. Whelan made a great dribble move to open himself up behind the arc, but he couldn't get the shot to fall and the Hawks were able to ice the game at the free throw line.
 
"I told the guys in the locker room after the game that I was proud of them and that it was a great effort by them to play smarter and harder in the second half," said head coach Mike Berkun. "It was also great to see the effectiveness our depth had in the second half and that we had many different guys stepping up in big situations."
 
Whelan finished with 20 points on 8-15 shooting to lead the scorers for Maritime. Walker, Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist), Mike Regan (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Anthony's), and Damon Brown (Bronx, NY/All Hallows) also finished in double digits with 13, 12, 11, and 10 points, respectively.
 
Maritime will open Skyline Conference play on Tuesday, Nov. 22 at St. Joseph's Long Island at 6 p.m.