NEWBURGH, NY - The Maritime College men's basketball team traveled up to Mount Saint Mary on Saturday afternoon for their second Skyline Conference contest of the season. Unfortunately, the Knights defense was able to stifle the Privateers offense for 40 minutes and they couldn't come back home with a win after falling by a score of 70-49. 

Maritime got off to a solid start in the first half as Evan Sirakis (Oakland Gardens, NY/St. Francis Prep) came off the bench and drained a three-point shot with 11 minutes left to cut the host's lead to 12-11. A few minutes later, a layup from Chris Ruscillo (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) tied the game at 17 with just under seven minutes remaining. However, Mount Saint Mary took control in the waning minutes of the half and entered the locker room with an 11-point lead at 33-22. 

Needing an offensive spark in the second half, Jaylin Gray (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) and Griffin McNally (Huntington Station, N.Y./Walt Whitman) opened the scoring for the Privateers with four points to cut the advantage to single digits. Unfortunately, Maritime couldn't find their rhythm on the offensive end and eventually fell to the Knights 70-49.

Gray led the Privateers with 12 points, while fellow junior guard Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) also chipped in a double-digit performance with 10. Sirakis finished with nine points off the bench on 2-3 shooting and 4-4 on free throws. Sean Flynn (Flushing, NY/Holy Cross) led Maritime on the glass with six rebounds.

Maritime will return to action on Tuesday, January 14 when they host Skyline foe Sarah Lawrence at 7 p.m.