THROGGS NECK, NY – For the fourth time in as many seasons, the Maritime College men's basketball team will play in the Skyline Conference Tournament.  The Privateers (12-11, 8-6 Skyline) secured a bid by notching an 85-70 victory over Merchant Marine (7-16, 4-10 Skyline) at Riesenberg Gymnasium on Saturday.  With the win, Maritime completed its first season sweep of the Mariners since 2022-23.

Zion Williams (Indianapolis, IN) and Jake Devaney (Washingtonville, NY) paced the Privateers with 22 points apiece.  Williams added nine rebounds and six assists, while Devaney had six boards and two blocks.  Tyler Anderson (Smithtown, NY), who was presented with a ball commemorating his 1,000^th career point before the game, finished with 14 points and three steals.  As a team, Maritime shot 50 percent from both the field (29-of-58) and three-point land (11-of-22) to go along with 69.6 shooting (16-of-23) at the free throw line.

The Privateers led nearly wire-to-wire.  After Merchant Marine scored the first basket of the game, Anderson sank a trey on the other end to start a 9-1 Maritime run that prompted an early Mariners timeout.  Merchant Marine got within three at 13-10 with 13:45 left until halftime, but the Privateers responded with a 15-3 rally that increased their cushion to 28-13 at the 8:08 mark.  The margin reached 22 points when a pair of Williams foul shots made it 44-22 with 2:03 remaining in the first half, and the Maritime advantage was 44-27 at the break.

A Devaney three on the Privateers' first possession of the second half pushed the gap back to 18 points, 47-29, before the Mariners used a 12-4 spurt to get back within 51-41.  Jesse Tricario (New Hyde Park, NY) followed with a layup, though, to spark a 12-0 run that again gave Maritime a 22-point cushion, 63-41.  Merchant Marine scored the next eight points to cut their deficit to 12, but would get no closer the rest of the way.  The Privateers closed out an 85-70 victory that officially locked up a playoff spot.

Jack Flannery recorded a game-high 27 points for Merchant Marine.  Aaron Zalescik just missed a double-double with 15 points and nine boards, and Mason Lavergne tallied 11 points and five assists.  Tim Barton, meanwhile, notched eight rebounds and eight assists.  The Mariners went 23-for-63 (36.5 percent) from the floor, 7-for-21 (33.3 percent) from downtown, and 17-for-25 (68 percent) at the charity stripe.

There are two games remaining on Maritime's regular season schedule, both on the road.  The Privateers visit Old Westbury (8-15, 6-8 Skyline) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.  When the teams met at Riesenberg Gymnasium on Jan. 10, Maritime earned a 93-76 win.