THROGGS NECK, NY – For the first time in 13 years, the Maritime College men's basketball team has advanced to the Skyline Conference semifinals! Playing in front of a raucous home crowd in their first postseason game since 2010, the fourth-seeded Privateers (16-10) held off fifth-seeded Merchant Marine (13-13), 66-64, in the quarterfinals at Riesenberg Gymnasium on Tuesday night.
The Privateers had a two-point lead when
Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) was fouled with 12 seconds remaining. However, he missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Mariners' Kody Robinson grabbed the rebound. Merchant Marine used its last timeout with 5.2 seconds left to try and set up a final shot. Robinson's three-pointer was off the mark, though, and the Privateers had their third win over the Mariners this season.
Merchant Marine trimmed a seven-point Maritime lead down to one, 63-62, before
Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) hit a three to make it a two-possession game. Robinson sank a layup on the other end to get the Mariners back within two with 1:05 to go, setting up the frenetic final minute.
Noble had all 18 of his points in the second half, and he drained four of Maritime's school record-tying 14 treys.
Ryan Donovan (North Salem, NY) recorded a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists, while
Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) contributed 11 points, five boards and four assists off the bench. Anderson finished with 10 points and six assists, and
Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) notched four blocks while also grabbing six rebounds.
Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) also pulled down six boards, as the Privateers held a 39-31 edge on the glass. Maritime shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor, 40 percent (14-of-35) from long range, and 50 percent (4-of-8) at the free throw line.
It was raining threes early on, as the Privateers hit six of their first eight attempts from beyond the arc en route to a 27-14 lead. After the teams traded layups, Merchant Marine ended the first half on a 21-5 run to take a 35-32 advantage into the locker room.
A layup by Isaac Vencel gave the Mariners their largest lead of the night, 37-32, with 17:48 remaining before Noble scored five consecutive points to tie the game. Robinson hit a layup to put Merchant Marine back in front, but the Privateers responded with back-to-back treys from Noble and Anderson. That started a 13-2, as Maritime regained an 11-point cushion, 52-41, at the 10:31 mark.
After Merchant Marine again pulled within two at 57-55, Donovan rattled off five straight points to put Maritime up 62-55 with 3:04 left. The Mariners scored seven of the next eight points, though, to make it a one-point margin with 1:34 remaining.
Robinson led the Mariners with 17 points, and he also tallied four steals. Vencel registered 15 points and seven rebounds, while DeMarcus Spivey posted 14 points. Drew Zalescik secured 11 boards for Merchant Marine, which shot 44.4 percent (24-of-54) from the field. The Mariners were just 5-for-22 (22.7 percent) from downtown and 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) at the charity stripe, however.
Maritime will visit top-seeded Farmingdale (19-7) in the Skyline semifinals at 7 p.m. on Thursday. The Rams, a 100-70 victor over Mount St. Mary in their quarterfinal game, earned a 69-57 win over the Privateers on Jan. 17 in the only regular season meeting between the teams.
