THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College men's basketball team has enjoyed the comforts of home so far this season.  And that was the case again on Saturday.  The Privateers (9-8, 5-3 Skyline) earned their fifth straight victory at Riesenberg Gymnasium and remained unbeaten at home in conference play with an 80-64 triumph over Old Westbury (1-14, 1-7 Skyline).

It was a back-and-forth game to start, as there were three ties and seven lead changes in the first 10 minutes.  After Ryan Donovan (North Salem, NY) drained a trey to put the Privateers in front 17-15, Jordan Johnson-Rader's layup on the other end evened the score at 17-17 with 7:23 remaining until halftime.  Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) then gave the Privateers the lead for good with his offensive rebound and tip-in on the ensuing Maritime possession.

That tip-in started a 12-4 Privateers run, and Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) made it 29-21 with his layup at the 2:19 mark.  Maritime's advantage was five points, 31-26, at intermission.

After Old Westbury pulled within one early in the second half, Mitchell hit a three from the left corner to bring the lead back to four, 34-30. The Panthers again trimmed their deficit to two points at 42-40 before a Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) three-pointer started a 17-4 rally that extended Maritime's cushion to 15 points, 59-44, with 8:18 left.

Old Westbury scored six of the next seven points to cut the margin to 10 at 60-50, but the Panthers would get no closer.  Maritime's advantage reached a game-high 17 points when Donovan's dunk made it 79-62 with 37 seconds remaining, and a Jack Baron (Bayport, NY) free throw closed out the scoring in the Privateers' 80-64 triumph, their fifth straight at Riesenberg Gymnasium.  Maritime's five-game home winning streak is its longest in-season stretch since the team started the 2009-10 campaign with 11 consecutive home victories.

Donovan finished with a game-high 28 points, marking the fourth time this season he's scored at least 25.  He added eight rebounds and three steals.  Anderson was the only other Privateer in double-figures with 15 points to go along with four assists.  Germain contributed eight points off the bench, while Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) collected 10 rebounds.  Maritime outrebounded Old Westbury 39-32, including a 17-11 edge on the offensive glass.  The Privateers shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field, 37 percent (10-of-27) from downtown, and 69 percent (20-of-29) at the free throw line.

For Old Westbury, Johnson-Rader led the way with 19 points.  He also tallied five rebounds and four assists.  Carl Damour had 15 points off the bench, and Chris Smith paced the Panthers with nine boards and three blocks.  Timothy Park handed out four assists for Old Westbury, which went 25-for-58 (43.1 percent) from the floor.  The Panthers shot 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from long range and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) at the charity stripe.

Maritime will now hit the road for each of its next two contests.  The Privateers visit Yeshiva (8-8, 6-2 Skyline) at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.