PATCHOGUE, NY – The Maritime College men's basketball team led St. Joseph's LI by eight with 1:55 left before the Golden Eagles rallied to tie it at 57-57 on Xavier Allen's layup at the seven-second mark. With Maritime holding the last possession and a chance to win, the Privateers did just that.
Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) sank a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to give Maritime (10-9, 6-4 Skyline) its first road conference victory of the season, 70-67, over St. Joseph's LI (9-9, 6-4 Skyline) at the Danzi Athletic Center on Saturday.
Maritime held a 39-24 advantage at halftime, and that lead reached a game-high 16 points when
Ryan Donovan's (North Salem, NY) trey made it 48-32 with 16:43 remaining in the contest. St. Joseph's LI scored the next 11 points to trim its deficit to five, 48-43, but the Privateers responded with a 6-2 run to push the margin back to nine, 54-45, with 11:05 left.
St. Joseph's LI eventually tied the score at 57-57, then, after the teams traded baskets, an Anderson jumper sparked an 8-0 rally that gave Maritime a 65-57 advantage with 1:55 to go. The Golden Eagles got three-pointers from Ryan McNeely and Matthew Hirdt to make it a two-point game before forcing a turnover with 16 seconds remaining. Allen tied the game with a layup, prompting the Privateers' final timeout and Anderson's heroics. The 70-67 triumph was Maritime's first victory over St. Joseph's LI since 2016 and first against the Golden Eagles in Patchogue since the 2003-04 season.
Donovan paced the Privateers with 19 points in the victory, while
Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) and
Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) notched 10 points apiece. Begovic also had eight rebounds and three assists. Anderson finished with seven points to go along with seven assists and two steals, and
James O'Connell (East Williston, NY) handed out four assists. As a team, Maritime shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56) from the floor, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from long range, and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) at the charity stripe.
For the Golden Eagles, Allen led the way with 21 points. He added nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Spencer Malloy finished with 14 points, nine boards and two blocks, while McNeely contributed 12 points off the bench. Alec Tabada grabbed six rebounds for St. Joseph's LI, which shot 45 percent (27-of-60) from the field overall. The Golden Eagles were 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from downtown and 7-for-12 (58.3 percent) at the free throw line.
It was St. Joseph's LI that raced out to an early seven-point lead, 15-8, before a Donovan layup started an 18-3 Maritime rally. The Privateers held the Golden Eagles without a field goal for more than seven minutes during that span. After St. Joseph's LI got back within five, 23-18, with 5:45 left until halftime,
Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) drained a trey to spark another Privateer run.
Rob Guilday's (Wallingford, PA) bucket made it 37-21 with 1:22 remaining in the first half, and the margin was 15 points, 39-24, at the break.
After playing three out of four on the road, Maritime returns home for each of its next two contests. The Privateers welcome Mount St. Vincent (9-9, 6-4 Skyline) to Riesenberg Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
