THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College men's basketball team returned home for the first time in nearly a month on Saturday for a Skyline Conference matchup with Mount St. Mary.  The Privateers (6-7, 2-2 Skyline) built a lead of as many as 16 points in the first half before holding off the Knights' (4-10, 1-4 Skyline) second half rally to earn a 72-69 win at Riesenberg Gymnasium.

An Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) layup gave Maritime a game-high 17-point advantage, 48-31, with 16:25 left in the contest.  Mount St. Mary pulled within six at 57-51 with 7:56 remaining, but the Privateers responded with a 7-2 run to push the margin back to 11 points, 64-53.

After Ryan Donovan (North Salem, NY) sank a pair of free throws to give Maritime a 69-62 lead with 58 seconds to go, the Knights got a jumper and a trey to make it a two-point game, 69-67.  Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) went 1-for-2 at the line on the other end before Chris Yearwood hit two at the line for Mount St. Mary.  Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) drained a pair to again put the Privateers up by three, 72-69, and Yearwood's heave at the buzzer was no good.

Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) led four Privateers in double-figures with 15 points.  He also grabbed five rebounds.  Donovan finished with 14 points, five boards and three steals, while Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) contributed 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.  Anderson registered 11 points, and Begovic tallied eight points to go along with five boards and three steals.

Maritime shot 46.9 percent (23-of-49) from the field, including 51.6 percent (16-of-31) in the first half.  The Privateers were 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) from long range and 18-for-25 (72 percent) at the free throw line.

It was a 4-4 game early on when Anderson and Mitchell each nailed a trey to spark a 17-7 run that put the Privateers in front 21-11 at the 11:47 mark of the first half.  Mount St. Mary got back within eight at 29-21 before Maritime rattled off eight straight points to increase its advantage to 37-21.  The Privateers' cushion was 12 points, 41-29, at halftime.

For Mount St. Mary, Elijah Barnett had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.  Yearwood posted a team-high 14 points and added three assists.  Connor Cyran recorded 13 points and eight boards, while Brenden Graham chipped in 11 points off the bench.  Jayden Figueroa finished with nine points and three steals for the Knights, who shot 45.2 percent (28-of-62) from the floor.  Mount St. Mary was 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from downtown and 7-for-10 (70 percent) at the charity stripe.

On Wednesday, Maritime continues its three-game homestand by welcoming Sarah Lawrence (4-9, 2-2 Skyline) to Riesenberg Gymnasium at 7 p.m.