DANBURY, CT– After going nearly three weeks without playing, the Maritime College men's basketball team took the court for the second time in less than 24 hours on Friday morning. The Privateers squared off with the host Wolves in the championship game of the WestConn Tournament at Feldman Arena. Western Connecticut (10-0), which received votes in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, claimed the tournament title with a 110-52 victory over Maritime (5-7).
WestConn scored the first eight points of the game and extended its advantage to 27-6 with 11:08 left in the first half. The Privateers got back within 13 at 29-16 on
Jovan Germain's (Brooklyn, NY) jumper at the 7:28 mark. WestConn ended the half on a 21-10 run, though, to take a 50-26 lead into the locker room.
The Wolves gradually extended their lead throughout the second half. After the margin reached a game-high 61 points at 110-49 with 55 seconds remaining,
Chris Zaveckas (Merrick, NY) drained a trey to finish off the scoring in the 110-52 defeat.
Ryan Donovan (North Salem, NY) was the only Privateer to reach double figures in the scoring column. He finished with 18 points to go along with seven rebounds.
Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) and
Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) recorded eight points apiece, while
Evan Block (Seaford, NY) pulled down six boards. Zaveckas tallied career-highs with five points and five rebounds, and
Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) distributed three assists. Maritime shot just 26.8 percent (15-of-56) from the field, 18.2 percent (6-of-33) from three-point range, and 53.3 percent (16-of-30) at the free throw line.
Kendall Robinson had 30 points and five assists for WestConn. Ryan Alkins just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Malik Cole handed out three assists to go along with 12 points. Jalen Jackson, meanwhile, registered seven points, five assists and three steals. All 12 players who saw action scored for the Wolves, who shot 58.4 percent (45-of-77) from the floor. WestConn was 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from downtown and 15-for-23 (65.2 percent) at the charity stripe.
In addition to being Maritime's final contest of the 2022 calendar year, it was the Privateers' last non-conference game of the season. Maritime (1-2 Skyline) resumes Skyline Conference play on Saturday, Jan. 7, when Mount St. Mary (4-7, 1-2 Skyline) visits Riesenberg Gymnasium at 1 p.m. It'll mark the start of a three-game homestand for the Privateers.
