KINGS POINT, NY – On Saturday afternoon, the Maritime College men's basketball team wrapped up a string of four straight away from home by visiting Merchant Marine.  The Privateers (8-5, 3-1 Skyline) led at halftime, but were held to 24 points in the second half, as the Mariners (5-8, 2-3 Skyline) rallied for a 60-54 victory at Liebertz Gymnasium.  It was Maritime's first Skyline Conference loss of the season.

Evan Block (Seaford, NY) finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) contributed 14 points of his own.  Jake Murphy (Rockville Centre, NY) distributed three assists to go along with seven points, and Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) paced the Privateers with nine boards.  Overall, Maritime shot 30.3 percent (20-of-66) from the field, 30.8 percent (8-of-26) from long range, and 66.7 percent (6-of-9) at the free throw line.

Maritime got off to a hot start, scoring nine of the first 10 points and jumping out to a 13-3 lead after just eight minutes. The advantage reached 12 points when Murphy's layup and free throw made it 19-7 at the 8:47 mark.  Merchant Marine followed with a 9-3 spurt that cut the margin in half, 22-16, but the Privateers immediately pushed it back to 10 points, 27-17, with 3:10 remaining until halftime.  It was a 30-23 game at halftime.

After Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) extended the Maritime lead to nine, 32-23, early in the second half, the Mariners used a 13-4 run to tie the score at 36-36.  The Privateers went back in front on a James O'Connell (East Williston, NY) foul shot with 12:15 remaining before Merchant Marine rattled off nine of the next 12 points to build a 45-39 cushion.  Maritime got an Anderson trey on its next possession to pull within three, 45-39, but would get no closer.  The Mariners, who went 0-3 against Maritime last season, took this year's first matchup by a 60-54 count.

Isaac Vencel had a game-high 21 points for the Mariners, while Drew Zalescik recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.  Bryce Bristow tallied eight points and 10 boards, and Clark Castleberry added eight points.  As a team, Merchant Marine shot 47.1 percent (24-of-51) from the floor, 26.7 percent (4-of-15) from three-point land, and 53.3 percent (8-of-15) at the charity stripe.

The Privateers return to Riesenberg Gymnasium for the first time in nearly a month on Wednesday night.  Maritime begins a two-game homestand with a 7 p.m. matchup against St. Joseph's LI (7-6, 1-3 Skyline).