THROGGS NECK, NY – On Saturday afternoon, the Maritime College men's basketball team played its final home game of the 2022 calendar year.  Sean Flynn (Flushing, NY) hit a pair of free throws with give the Privateers a four-point lead with eight seconds left.  A Jake Cosgrove (Seaford, NY) steal then finished off a 58-54 victory for Maritime (4-6, 1-2 Skyline) over Merchant Marine (3-4, 1-1 Skyline) at Riesenberg Gymnasium.

Maritime trailed at halftime, but started the second half on a 13-6 run to go ahead, 42-36.  The margin reached a game-high nine points when Evan Block (Seaford, NY) sank a three-pointer from the corner to make it 48-39 with 9:39 remaining.  Merchant Marine cut its deficit to 48-46 at the 7:15 mark before the Privateers scored eight of the next 12 points to regain a six-point cushion, 56-50.

After the Mariners pulled within two at 56-54, Donovan's layup with 14 seconds left was blocked and Merchant Marine's Kody Robinson grabbed the rebound.  The Mariners missed two layups, though, and Flynn was fouled immediately after securing the loose ball.  His free throws sealed the four-point win, Maritime's first over Merchant Marine since 2019 and the Privateers' first home conference victory since a 73-71 triumph against Mount St. Mary on Feb. 11, 2020.

There were six lead changes in the first eight minutes of the game.  Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) nailed a trey to put Maritime up 15-14, but Dante Spina immediately followed with a layup to put Merchant Marine back in front, 16-15.  That started a 9-0 run, which gave the Mariners their largest advantage of the day, 23-15, with 6:28 remaining in the first half.  Maritime rallied back, though, ending the half on a 14-7 spurt to trim its deficit to one, 30-29, at the break.

Donovan paced the Privateers with 13 points, and he added seven rebounds.  Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) finished with 12 points and eight assists, while Flynn had nine points, five boards, two assists and two blocks.  Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) registered eight points and six rebounds off the bench, and Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) secured a team-high eight boards.  Maritime shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field and outrebounded Merchant Marine 41-36.  The Privateers were 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) from three-point land and 10-for-16 (62.5 percent) at the charity stripe.

For Merchant Marine, Isaac Vencel led the way with 14 points.  He also tallied five steals.  Drew Zalescik recorded 11 points, while Brandon Bomboy contributed nine points.  In addition to grabbing six rebounds, Bryce Bristow had three assists and four blocks for the Mariners.  Merchant Marine shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) overall, but was held to just 15 percent (3-of-20) shooting from long range. The Mariners went just 9-for-18 (50 percent) at the free throw line.

The Privateers will now have nearly three weeks off for finals and the holidays before returning to action.  Maritime travels to the Western Connecticut State Tournament on Dec. 29-30.  The Privateers will open the event against Coast Guard (2-6) at 5 p.m. on Dec. 29.