MAHWAH, NJ – After trailing by five with 1:17 remaining, the Maritime College men's basketball team cut its deficit to one, 59-58, with four seconds left in its season opener at Ramapo on Saturday afternoon.  However, the Roadrunners (1-0) made two free throws, then got a steal to secure a 61-58 victory over the Privateers (0-1) at the Bradley Center.

Ramapo scored the first four points of the game, but Maritime responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead.  After a Jesse Tricario (New Hyde Park, NY) trey extended the Privateers' cushion to 12-8, the Roadrunners countered with a 6-2 rally to force a 14-14 deadlock midway through the first half.  Maritime went back in front, 17-14, on a Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY) three-pointer before Ramapo used an 11-3 spurt to go up 25-20.  The Roadrunners held a 28-25 advantage at intermission.

The Privateers regained the lead when Sean Kivlan's (Floral Park, NY) three-pointer made it 37-36 with 13:12 left.  Ramapo scored the next four points before another Kivlan trey evened the game at 40-40.  With the score still tied at 48-48, Enoch Hutchison rattled off five straight points for the Roadrunners to give Ramapo a 53-48 advantage.  The margin reached six points at 57-51 on Branden Moore's layup at the 3:21 mark, but Maritime pulled within one, 59-58 on a Kivlan layup with four seconds to go.  Jalen Thomas sank a pair of free throws to increase the margin to three points, 61-58, then a Tim Linton steal clinched the victory for the Roadrunners.

Jake Devaney (Washingtonville, NY) had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds.  Kivlan notched a team-best 13 points off the bench, while Anderson finished with 12 points.  As a team, the Privateers went 21-for-67 (31.3 percent) from the floor, 7-for-28 (25 percent) from long range, and 9-for-18 (50 percent) at the free throw line.

For Ramapo, Linton tallied 18 points to go along with eight rebounds and three steals.  Moore contributed 12 points and Hutchison added 11 points for the Roadrunners.  Elijah Barlow pulled down 10 boards, as Ramapo held a 52-43 edge on the glass.  Tyrell Murichson secured seven rebounds while also posting five assists and four steals.  The Roadrunners shot a combined 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the field, including 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from downtown, and 60 percent (15-of-25) at the charity stripe.

On Wednesday, Maritime opens its home schedule with a 7 p.m. matchup against Baruch (1-0) at Riesenberg Gymnasium.  It will be the first meeting between the Privateers and Bearcats since the 2022-23 season.