The Maritime College basketball team used a strong second half performance to pull away from CCNY on Sunday afternoon, 82-72. The Privateers held onto a slim 38-37 advantage at halftime, but jumped all over the Beavers in the second half and took a commanding double-digit lead to win the game and improve to 4-4 on the season.
Maritime got off to a sluggish start as CCNY led early by three points, but back-to-back jumpers from
Sean Flynn (Flushing, NY/Holy Cross) and
Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) gave them their first lead of the game at 11-9 with 14 minutes left to play in the half. After some physical back and forth play, the Beavers took control of the half with a six-point lead and three minutes left to play. With all signs pointing towards a deficit heading into the locker rooms, McGovern drew a foul attempting a half court shot as time expired. The senior guard made all three free throwss to give the Privateers a one-point lead at 38-37.
Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) got the momentum going in Maritime's favor to start the second half as he converted an and-one play to open up the period. With 14 minutes left to play in the game and the Privateers leading by 4, McGovern came up with a clutch three-point shot to make it a seven-point lead. Later in the half, another three from McGovern and a driving layup from Whelan pushed the lead to double digits at 62-52 with 11:30 left.
With CCNY looking to close the gap as time expires,
Mike Regan (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and
Sean Flynn (Flushing, NY/Holy Cross) hit back-to-back three point shots to keep the lead at double digits and ice the game for the Privateers. The win improved Maritime to 4-4, while the Beavers fell to 0-9.
Whelan led the Privateer point scorers with 21 points on 7-8 shooting from the field, while Flynn chipped in 14 points on 6-7 from the field. McGovern and Gray also added double-digit performances with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Maritime will return to Riesenberg Hall on December 30 against Kean.
