KINGS POINT, NY – For the first time since the 2009-10 season, the Maritime College men's basketball team will be playing in the Skyline Conference Tournament.  The Privateers (13-9, 9-4 Skyline) wrapped up their first postseason berth in 12 years with a 63-47 victory over Merchant Marine (11-11, 9-4 Skyline) at Liebertz Gymnasium on Wednesday.  With the win, Maritime completed a season sweep of the Mariners and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Skyline North Division.

Merchant Marine jumped out to an early 9-2 lead before a fast break layup by Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) stared a 13-2 Maritime run that put the Privateers in front, 15-11.  After a DeMarcus Spivey layup made it 15-13 at the 10:39 mark, Maritime held Merchant Marine scoreless for nearly five minutes.  The Privateers limited the Mariners to just six points for the rest of the half and held a 28-19 advantage at the break.

After Robbie Mitchell (Staten Island, NY) opened the second half with a trey to make it a 12-point game, 31-19, Merchant Marine chipped away at the Maritime lead, eventually pulling within six at 41-35.  However, the Mariners would get no closer, as Ryan Donovan (North Salem, NY) sank a three to start a 10-0 rally that increased the margin to 16 points, 51-35.  Maritime's advantage reached a game-high 18 points at 61-43 with 45 seconds left, and the Privateers' 63-47 triumph was Merchant Marine's first home loss of the season.

Donovan finished with a game-high 25 points to move within 24 of 1,000 for his career.  The reigning Skyline Player of the Week also grabbed six rebounds.  Anderson tallied 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting while adding seven boards, three assists and three steals.  Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) collected 11 rebounds and Mitchell pulled down eight boards, as Maritime held a 45-27 advantage on the glass.  The Privateers shot 42.6 percent (23-of-54) from the field, 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range, and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) at the free throw line.

Jake Hatch had 12 points and seven rebounds to lead the Mariners.  Spivey contributed 11 points off the bench, while Drew Zalescik finished with 10 points and five boards.  Isaac Vencel handed out six assists for Merchant Marine, which shot 35.3 percent (18-of-51) as a team.  The Mariners were just 6-for-25 (24 percent) from downtown and 5-for-14 (35.7 percent) at the charity stripe.

Up next, Maritime welcomes Purchase (8-14, 3-10 Skyline) to Riesenberg Gymnasium at 1 p.m. on Saturday.  It will be the Privateers' final home game of the regular season, and seniors Donovan, Sean Flynn (Flushing, NY) and Alex Tartaglia (East Northport, NY) will be recognized before the contest.