NEWBURGH, NY – After ending 2023 with three straight losses, the Maritime College men's basketball team began 2024 on a winning note.  In their first game of the New Year, the Privateers (8-4, 3-0 Skyline) resumed their Skyline Conference slate on Wednesday night with a 67-53 victory over Mount St. Mary (2-11, 0-4 Skyline) at the Kaplan Center.

The Privateers scored the first five points of the game before the Knights rallied to tie it at 7-7.  After Mount St. Mary pulled in front 13-12, Jake Cosgrove (Seaford, NY) sank a three-pointer to start an 18-4 run that gave Maritime the lead for good.  The Privateers held a 41-28 advantage at halftime.

Maritime then began the second half with an 11-2 spurt to extend its cushion to a game-high 22 points, 52-30.  After the Knights trimmed their deficit to eight at 57-49 with 6:56 remaining, a Jake Murphy (Rockville Centre, NY) layup sparked a 10-2 rally that pushed the margin back to 16 points, 67-51, with 2:17 left.  The only points over the final 2:17 came on a layup by Mount St. Mary's Rob Tansey that made the final score 67-53 in favor of the Privateers.

Murphy finished with 18 points to lead Maritime.  He added six rebounds.  Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) tallied 13 points and 11 boards, and Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) contributed 11 points.  Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, as the Privateers held a 36-29 edge on the glass.  Evan Block (Seaford, NY) chipped in eight points and six boards, while Amadou Kouyate (Harlem, NY) distributed three assists.  As a team, Maritime shot 44.4 percent from both the field (24-of-54) and three-point land (12-of-27) and 50 percent (7-of-14) at the free throw line.

For Mount St. Mary, Jayden Figueroa had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Connor Cyran, meanwhile, notched 14 points and three steals.  The Knights shot a combined 34 percent (18-of-53) from the floor, but were just 4-for-24 (16.7 percent) from downtown.  Mount St. Mary went 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) at the charity stripe.

Up next, Maritime visits Merchant Marine (4-8, 1-3 Skyline) for a 1 p.m. matchup on Saturday.  The Privateers went 3-0 against the Mariners last season, including a 66-64 win in the quarterfinals of the Skyline Conference Tournament.