THROGGS NECK, NY – After trailing by as many as 17 points, the Maritime College men's basketball team battled within two in the final minute on Saturday afternoon. However, William Paterson's Tyreek Montgomery sank a trey with 26 seconds left to put the Pioneers up five, and William Paterson (4-7) held on for an 86-79 victory over the Privateers (7-2) at Riesenberg Gymnasium. The loss, Maritime's first at Riesenberg Gymnasium in more than a year, snapped the Privateers' 12-game home winning streak.
William Paterson had a 10-point lead, 78-68, with 3:41 remaining when
Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) hit a layup to begin the comeback effort. A pair of
Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) three-pointers cut Maritime's deficit to four, 80-76, then the Privateers forced a shot clock violation on the other end. Noble connected with Begovic for a layup that brought Maritime within 80-78 at the 54-second mark, but the Privateers would get no closer. William Paterson outscored Maritime 6-1 the rest of the way to finish off the win.
Noble tallied 17 of his team-high 22 points in the second half. He also notched five rebounds and three assists.
Jake Murphy (Rockville Centre, NY) finished with 18 points, while Begovic had 12 points and five boards.
Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) contributed 11 points off the bench, and
Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) handed out nine assists. As a team, the Privateers shot 58.2 percent (32-of-55) from the field, 45 percent (9-of-20) from long range, and 74.1 percent (20-of-27) at the free throw line.
The Pioneers got off to a hot start offensively and held a 23-6 lead less than seven minutes into the contest. It was still a 16-point game, 36-20, when the Privateers used an eight-point possession to trim that margin in half.
Rob Guilday (Wallingford, PA) drew an intentional foul as Murphy drained a three-pointer. The basket counted, and Guilday was sent to the line. He made both free throws, Maritime kept the ball, and Murphy ended the sequence with another three-ball that brought the Privateers within 36-28.
It was still an eight-point game at halftime, 50-42, but Maritime opened the second half on a 7-3 rally to trim William Paterson's lead to four, 53-49. After the Pioneers used a 5-0 run to push the margin back to nine, 58-49, the Privateers responded with six straight points.
Amadou Kouyate's (Harlem, NY) rebound and layup at the 13:05 mark again got Maritime within three, 58-55, before Willaim Paterson went on a 20-13 spurt to open up a 10-point advantage, 78-68.
For the Pioneers, Andre Wells recorded 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Neftali Valentin posted 19 points and Shawn Summers Jr. added 16 points. Montgomery, meanwhile, registered 10 points and six boards to go along with four assists and seven steals. As a team, William Paterson had 14 steals, which led to 19 fastbreak points. The Pioneers were 32-for-55 (58.2 percent) from the floor, 8-for-22 (36.4 percent) from downtown, and 14-for-18 (77.8 percent) at the charity stripe.
Maritime will have a break of nearly two weeks before returning to action. The Privateers take on Oneonta (2-5) at 7 p.m. on Dec. 29 in the opening game of the NYU Holiday Tournament. Maritime then faces either SUNY-Canton or the host Violets on Dec. 30.
