THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College men's basketball team led by 10 points with 3:10 remaining in its regular season finale against Yeshiva on Saturday night.  However, the Maccabees (14-11, 11-5 Skyline) rallied down the stretch to earn a 68-64 victory over the Privateers (14-11, 9-7 Skyline) at Riesenberg Gymnasium.

After two Jake Murphy (Rockville Centre, NY) free throws gave Maritime a 64-60 lead with 27 seconds left, Zevi Samet drove for a layup to bring Yeshiva within two.  The Maccabees then tied it on Roy Itcovichi's layup with 4.7 seconds to go.  Maritime tried to call timeout and set up a final play, but had none remaining, resulting in a technical foul.  Yeshiva hit both foul shots to take its first lead of the night before forcing a turnover on the Privateers' ensuing possession.  Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) fouled Or Sundjyvsky immediately, and he sank a pair at the line to close out Yeshiva's 68-64 win.

Prior to the game, Maritime honored its five seniors—Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro), Jake Cosgrove (Seaford, NY), Amadou Kouyate (Harlem, NY), Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) and Murphy.  The quintet all got the start and jumped out to a 6-0 lead.  Yeshiva scored the next six points to force a 6-6 deadlock before the Privateers used a 19-6 spurt to open up a 25-12 advantage with 6:06 left in the first half.  Maritime's cushion reached a game-high 14 points at 32-18 on a Murphy trey at the 2:35 mark, and the Privateers held a 32-20 edge at the break.

Maritime still led, 39-28, when Yeshiva went on an 8-0 run to pull within three, 39-36, with 13:14 remaining.  Murphy drained a three on the other end to start a 9-3 rally that brought the Privateers' advantage back to nine points, 48-39, at the 10:12 mark.  After the Maccabees trimmed the margin to four, 56-52, back-to-back treys by Noble and Murphy made it a 10-point game, 62-52, with 3:10 left.  Yeshiva battled all the way back, though, scoring eight straight points to get within two at 62-60 before Murphy's free throws made it a two-possession game.

Murphy paced the Privateers with 22 points, and he added eight rebounds.  Begovic finished with 11 points on 4-for-4 shooting to go along with eight boards and four assists, while Noble notched nine points and six rebounds.  Maritime shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) as a team, but was just 5-for-25 (20 percent) from long range.  The Privateers went 13-for-20 (65 percent) at the charity stripe.

For Yeshiva, Dothan Bardichev led with way with 20 points and eight rebounds.  He also tallied four assists and three steals.  Samet contributed 15 points, six boards and four assists, while Sunjyvsky posted 14 points and three steals.  The Maccabees shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the floor, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from downtown, and 69 percent (20-of-29) at the free throw line.

On Tuesday night, the fourth-seeded Privateers will host fifth-seeded Sarah Lawrence (13-12, 10-6 Skyline) in the first round of the Skyline Conference Tournament.  This marks the second straight season in which Maritime will be hosting a first-round playoff game.