The Maritime College basketball team couldn't complete a second half comeback against St. Joseph's Brooklyn at home on Tuesday night as they fell 86-72 to the Skyline Conference foe.

After finishing the opening half on a 21-9 run, the Bears went into halftime with all of the momentum and a 44-30 lead. However, the Privateers came out of the locker room focused and ready to mount a comeback.

Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) and Chris Ruscillo (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) got the half started for Maritime with a three-point shot and a fast break lay-up to quickly bring the lead back down to single digits. A few minutes later, McGovern drained his second three of the half followed by two more from Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) to give the Privateers nine straight points within a minute and bring the score to 46-44 with 14 minutes remaining. With the help of some energy from the crowd, Maritime was back in the game and continued to battle the Bears throughout the second half.

Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) was next to step up for the Privateers as he converted on two jump shots in the paint to bring St. Joseph's lead to just one point. However, the Bears refused to go away and continued to drain difficult shots to hold onto their lead. Walker and McGovern weren't going to let St. Joseph's take control of the half though as they converted on back-to-back threes once again and tied the score at 55 with eight and a half minutes left in the game.

Sebastien Etheart continued to lead the charge for the Bears though and helped them take a seven-point lead with five minutes remaining. Maritime continued to fight back as Ruscillo stepped up and knocked down a big three-point shot from the wing to keep the game close at 67-63 with 4:56 remaining. The Privateers defense continued to force difficult shots from the St. Joseph's, but the Bears were making baskets when they needed to and managed to slip away from Maritime in the closing minutes. Etheart was key for St. Joseph's as he scored 32 points and added 22 rebounds.

McGovern had another solid night from behind the arc for the Privateers as he drained 5-9 shots from three and totaled 22 points in the loss. Whelan added 15 points on a team-high 33 minutes. Walker and Ruscillo also reached double-digits with 13 and 10, respectively. Ronan Doherty (Danbury, Conn./Immaculate) tallied a team-high nine rebounds.

"I was very proud of how our guys responded in the second half," said head coach Mike Berkun. "We came out and executed well offensively and gave ourselves a chance to win the game despite the disappointing first half. St. Joseph's deserves a lot of credit, they made a lot of tough shots down the stretch and that's why they were able to pull out the win."

The Privateers head to USMMA on Thursday, Jan 17 at 7:00 p.m. for their next Skyline Conference matchup.