Maritime senior Giovanni Hurley (Brooklyn, N.Y./Middle College High) came into Thursday night's game needing 23 points to reach 1,000 in his career. He played his heart out and wound up with a triple-double effort: 35 points, 21 rebounds and 10 steals. However, the Privateers fell to an undefeated NYU team by the score of 92-79.
With the loss, Maritime's record drops to 5-4 on the season, while the Violets improve to 8-0 overall.
Hurley was the leading scorer and matched the game-high in rebounds with NYU's Richie Polan – they both had 12. Seniors Quamel Lyerly (Inwood, N.Y./Lawrence) and Paul Suarino (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) rounded out the Privateers in double-digits with 18 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Andrew Geisel (Media, Pa./Penncrest) chipped in with nine points and junior Mike McSloy (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) registered seven points.
In the first half, NYU came out strong and built up a 16-point lead just over seven minutes into play. Maritime slowly crawled back in and cut the lead down to just four points, after Hurley hit a jumper with 3:31 remaining in the opening half to cap off a small 9-2 run over two minutes. Suarino scored all 10 of his points in the first half, including the final jumper of the period that sent Maritime into the locker room down just two points, 45-42.
Lyerly opened the scoring just nine seconds into the second half, tying the game on a layup off a pass from Suarino. The Privateers took their first lead of the night when Hurley laid one in, also from Suarino, at 18:08. Under a minute later Hurley gave Maritime its largest lead of the night, four points (53-49), on a layup from Suarino, his fourth assist of the game (he ended with five). The Violets came back, however, and built up a seven-point lead, 60-53, at 14:31.
Maritime tied the score twice over the next four minutes, but foul trouble plagued the Privateers. NYU extended its lead to 10 points with 3:56 to play and quickly made it's a 16-point lead, 90-74, just over two minutes later. Maritime ended strong but fell short to the undefeated Violets.
NYU was led by Carl Yaffe, who scored a team-high 28 points and had eight rebounds. Richie Polan recorded a double-double with 24 points and 12 boards, while Max Wein had nine rebounds.
The Privateers return to action on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, when the squad plays its first game of the New Year on the road at Mount Saint Mary's up in Newburgh, N.Y. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Blue Knights' Kaplan Center Gymnasium. Follow along on Facebook by clicking here.