THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College men's basketball team began its 2022-23 season in impressive fashion on Tuesday night. The Privateers (1-0) led nearly wire-to-wire en route to a dominant 81-56 victory over Medgar Evers (0-1) at Riesenberg Gymnasium.

Ryan Donovan (North Salem, NY) had a career-high 32 points, including 21 in the first half.  He also tallied seven rebounds and three steals.  Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) finished with 10 points and seven boards, while Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) contributed 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.  Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) grabbed eight rebounds, as the Privateers held a 45-20 edge on the glass.  He added four assists and three steals.  Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY), meanwhile, handed out four assists in his Maritime debut.  As a team, the Privateers shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field, 33.3 percent (5-of-15) from three-point range, and 78.3 percent (18-of-23) at the free throw line.

After Donovan hit the first basket of the game, Dante Simmons sank a trey on the other end.  That would prove to be the Cougars' final lead, however, as Anderson drained a three-pointer to start an 8-0 Maritime run that gave the Privateers a 10-3 edge barely four minutes into the contest.  Maritime extended its advantage to 32-19 with 3:22 remaining in the first half, and the margin was 11 points, 36-25, at halftime.

A Dimitri Weeks bucket to start the second half brought Medgar Evers within nine, but Begovic followed with a layup, and the Privateers' lead wouldn't dip below double digits the rest of the way.  After the Cougars got within 15 at 63-48 with 7:34 left, Maritime went on a 16-5 run to open up its largest advantage of the night, 79-53, with 1:51 remaining.  The final margin of 25 points, 81-56, represented Maritime's biggest win since the 2014-15 season.

For Medgar Evers, Weeks led the way with 14 points.  Richar Frias recorded eight points, three assists and two blocks, and AJ Evans had five steals to go along with seven points.  Mousa Sinera pulled down a team-high eight rebounds for the Cougars, who shot 40 percent (22-of-55) as a team.  Medgar Evers went 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) from downtown and 4-for-8 (50 percent) at the charity stripe.

This was the first of four games in seven days to start the season for Maritime.  The Privateers welcome York (0-1) to Riesenberg Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Thursday.