Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) celebrated his senior night in the best way possible Thursday night as he dropped a career-high 29 points to lead Maritime basketball to a 81-72 win over Sarah Lawrence. 

The game got off to a slow start for the Privateers as they found themselves trailing 15-6 just six minutes into the opening half. However, Maritime responded quickly and closed the gap to 15-14 in just one and a half minutes. Around 10 minutes later, a Husene Camara (Bronx, N.Y./Frederick Douglas) steal and fast break layup gave the Privateers their first lead of the half since one minute into the game. With time running out in the first half, Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) came up with a big steal and found Chris Ruscillo (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) under the basket for an easy layup as time expired to put the Privateers within two heading into the locker room. 

With seven minutes left in the second half, and the Privateers holding onto a slim 57-56 lead, Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) took over the game. The Bayport, NY native scored 10 consecutive points for Maritime to take the lead to 67-60 with five minutes remaining. However, the senior wasn't done yet as he assisted on the next bucket and then drained his third three of the half to make it 15 straight points he was responsible for. 

The Gryphons weren't going to back down though and cut the lead to 72-66 with three minutes left. Once again, it was Walker who stepped up as he knocked down back-to-back free throws and then drained his fourth three pointer of the second half to make it 20 consecutive points responsible for and make it a 77-69 lead with just over a minute remaining. The incredible run by Walker sealed the game for the Privateers and capped off his Maritime basketball career in spectacular fashion.

"It was great to see him catch fire like that and have arguably the best game of his career be his last," said head coach Mike Berkun. "Our guys did a good job of recognizing that every play needed to go through his hands down the stretch. He's had a great senior campaign and we're going to miss his energy and effort next year."

Walker finished 10-19 from the field and came up one rebound short of a double-double. McGovern also finished in double-digits with 19 points, while Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) added a game-high five assists. 

Maritime finishes the season 6-19 overall and 5-15 in Skyline play, while the loss dropped Sarah Lawrence to 13-11 and 11-8 in the conference.