Box Score KING'S POINT, NY -- The Maritime College men's basketball team was unable to get slow down their rival, Merchant Marine on Saturday afternoon, as they lost 73-47. With the result, the Privateers drop to 5-9 (1-4 in the Skyline), and the Mariners improve to 6-9 (2-4).

For Maritime, Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) led the team in scoring with 10 points, and chipped in four assists, while Nicholas Ovanessian (Bayside, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) provided eight points off the bench.

In the opening minute of the game, Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) nailed two jump shots to give the Privateers an early 4-2 lead. USMMA responded with a 15-6 run of their own before Ovanessian made a jumper at 11:18 to make it 17-12. Whelan finished two layups to cut into the deficit, and force the home team to take a timeout at 5:27, with the score 28-16. The half came to close with Mike Regan (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Anthony's) drilling a three pointer with four seconds remaining, to send Maritime into the locker room trailing 36-23.

The Privateers started the second half strong with a free throw from Husene Camara (Bronx, N.Y./Frederick Douglas), and a triple from McGovern at 18:45, to chip away at the Mariners' lead, 36-27. Unfortunately, by the time that head coach Mike Berkun used a timeout with 11:44 remaining, the deficit had ballooned to 53-32. Chris Ruscillo (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) finished in the paint at 6:26 to force another USMMA timeout, and Evan Sirakis (Oakland Gardens, NY/St. Francis Prep) drained a three-pointer with 3:58 to make it 68-42. The final basket for the Privateers was an offensive rebound put-back by Alex Tartaglia (East Northport, NY/John Glen), where he also drew the foul, and made the free throw, with 67 seconds remaining in the contest.

Maritime will look to return to form on Wednesday, January 22, as they host Yeshiva University at 7:30 PM in Riesenberg Gym.