THROGGS NECK, NY – The Maritime College men's basketball game hosted a Skyline Conference Tournament game for the second time in as many years on Tuesday night. The fourth-seeded Privateers (14-12), who were looking for their second straight semifinal appearance, saw their season come to an end with a 55-51 loss to fifth-seeded Sarah Lawrence (14-12) at Riesenberg Gymnasium.
Trailing by three with 1:07 remaining, Maritime had three opportunities to tie the game. The Privateers grabbed the offensive rebound each time, but were unable to find the bottom of the net. After Maritime's fourth missed trey, Lucas Murray secured the rebound for Sarah Lawrence. He was fouled immediately and sank a free throw to make it a two-possession game, sealing the victory for the Gryphons.
It was a defensive battle throughout, as the teams combined for just 39 points in the first half.
Jake Murphy's (Rockville Centre, NY) bucket with four seconds left until halftime put the Privateers in front, 20-19, at the break. After Sarah Lawrence scored the first basket of the second half, Maritime got a three-pointer from Murphy and an
Aleksandar Begovic (Kotor, Montenegro) layup to open up a four-point advantage, 25-21.
Four straight treys extended the Privateers' cushion to a game-high eight points at 40-32 with 13:00 to go, but the Gryphons rattled off 11 of the next 14 points to force a 43-43 deadlock. After a Murphy three-pointer put Maritime back in front, 46-43, Sarah Lawrence responded with a 10-1 run to take a 53-47 lead of its own. The Privateers got a pair of Murphy free throws and a
Theo Noble (Bronx, NY) layup to pull within two, 53-51, before a Murray foul shot for the Gryphons set up the final sequence.
Noble sank four three-pointers in the contest and finished with a game-high 18 points. He also had a career-best five steals. Murphy contributed 14 points, while
Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) tallied seven points and five assists.
Jovan Germain (Brooklyn, NY) handed out four assists, and Begovic paced the Privateers with eight rebounds. As a team, Maritime shot 31 percent (18-of-58) from the field, 28.6 percent (10-of-35) from long range, and 62.5 percent (5-of-8) at the free throw line.
Braden Burman paced the Gryphons with 17 points, while Murray notched 15 points and nine rebounds. Eamon Kelly recorded 13 points, and Andrew Kim handed out six assists to go along with seven boards. Chris Dougherty collected 11 rebounds off the bench, as Sarah Lawrence had a 40-27 edge on the glass. The Gryphons shot 41.5 percent (17-of-41) overall, including 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from downtown, and were 13-for-20 (65 percent) at the charity stripe.
This season marked the first time that Maritime made consecutive postseason appearances since a three-year stretch from 2007-08 to 2009-10. That was also the last time prior to this season that the Privateers had back-to-back winning records.
