NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Maritime men's basketball team dropped its final game of the 2014 calendar year with a loss to the Yeshiva Maccabees on Saturday evening from nearby Washington Heights in Manhattan, falling by the score of 77-53.
 
Freshman John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) led the team with 10 points, while both he and senior Sean Corley (Harlem, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) led the Privateers with three assists each. Sophomore Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching), along with rookies Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) and Kevin Blessington (Lynbrook, N.Y./East Rockaway) led Maritime with five rebounds each.
 
In the first half, Yeshiva jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage before MacDonald put up a layup to trim the lead in half. The Maccabees added to its lead and opened up a 10-4 score with 16:46 to go in the period.
 
Hayes converted on a layup, followed by senior T'Vaughn Gibson (Freeport, Bahamas/Sunland Baptist Academy) sinking a three-pointer from the left corner to pull the Privateers within one at 10-9. Yeshiva held a slim margin in the waning minutes of the period, before Blessington hit a mid-range jumper to put the Privateers within one at 23-22.

After a quick Maccabee basket, the Privateers marched down the court again and Liccese pulled up for a three-pointer from the right elbow to even up the game at 25. However, Yeshiva closed out the period on an 11-0 run as Maritime went 0-for-5 from shots on the floor during the final four minutes of the stanza.
 
In the second half, Yeshiva tacked on three more points to take a 14-point lead at 39-25 with just over a minute gone by in the period. Liccese again answered with a long-range shot to put an end to the drought.
 
Several possessions later, MacDonald scored four unanswered points and pulled Maritime back within eight with 14:55 remaining in regulation to make the score 42-34. Yeshiva went on an 11-2 run over the next several minutes and continued to add onto its lead, taking as much as a 22-point lead at 68-46 with 4:32 left in regulation.
 
Maritime went on a brief 7-2 run, but it was too late after the Privateers had fallen behind by several possessions. The Maccabees sealed the victory with six unanswered to close out the game for the 77-53 victory.
 
As a team, the Privateers shot 22-of-58 from the field with both MacDonald and Blessington as the only two players finishing better than 50%. The Maccabees ended the game shooting 53.2% from the floor, with both teams finishing the night 4-for-10 from long range. Rebounding proved to be a key difference in the game with Yeshiva pulling down 42 boards, to Maritime's 25.
 
Maritime (2-6, 0-2 Skyline) will be off from game action for the next month, and will open up 2015 with a road matchup against Farmingdale at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 7.
 
Yeshiva (5-3, 3-1 Skyline) will have four more contests in the month of December, beginning with a matchup against defending Skyline Champion Purchase on Monday evening at 8 p.m. from Purchase, N.Y.