The Maritime College men's basketball team secured its third consecutive Skyline Conference victory on Thursday evening, as they defeated St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn), 85-68. Maritime improved to 8-10 (4-5), while St. Joseph's fell to 6-12 (2-7).
The Privateers' offensive was operating at a high-level, led by senior guard
Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist), who dropped in 27 points, including six threes. Sophomore
Mike Regan's (Dix Hills, N.Y./St. Anthony's) 17 points were a season-high, and
Chris Ruscillo (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) poured in an efficient 14 points in 15 minutes of action.
Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) controlled the offense with 11 assists, and added nine rebounds to the winning effort as well. As a team, Maritime's 13 made triples tied their season-high, a feat they previously accomplished against York College on 11/12/19, and SUNY New Paltz on 11/23/19.
The first half featured hot shooting from both groups, as the Privateers went 8-19 from behind the arc, and the Bears did their damage inside, going 15-25 on two-point field goals. Maritime looked to be in control early, when they took a 17-10 lead off a fast-break jumper from McGovern with 12:50 remaining in the opening period. A three from
Ryan Donovan (North Salem, N.Y./North Salem) with 9:43 to go kept the Privateers lead at 25-18, and following back-to-back deep range shots from Regan, Maritime was up 36-28 with 4:29 to play in the first half. By the time the teams went to the locker rooms, the Bears had climbed back to cut the deficit to three, 38-35.
The second half defense from the Privateers was stifling, as they held the home team to 10-36 (27.78%) from the field, including 1-11 (9.09%) from beyond the arc. Maritime's offense was able to capitalize on their lock-down defense, scoring 47 points in the final 20 minutes of action, their third highest point total in a half this 2019-20 season.
The Privateers opened up the second period with an 8-0 run, punctuated by a finish in the paint by Regan, to make it 46-35, with 17:19 to go. Their lead grew to 56-41 following an and-one finish from Ruscillo at the 11:48 mark, and another layup from Ruscillo at 9:05 would make it 62-47. With 2:33 remaining, McGovern would bury a three to give Maritime its biggest lead of the game, 80-61, and he would close out his big time performance with one last three pointer with 93 seconds to play, 85-66.
The Privateers will take the floor on Saturday, February 1, as they host Skyline opponent, Farmingdale, in Riesenberg Gymnasium. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
