PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – The Maritime Men's Basketball team earned their first win on the season at St. Joseph's (LI), 79-66, on Saturday afternoon in their first game back from the holiday break.
The Privateers (1-7, 1-2 Skyline) were led by sophomore John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) who finished the game with 26 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the win.
Sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) had a strong game recording a double-double, with 18 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching) and freshman Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) both finished with double digits in points, 17 and 12 respectively.
Maritime scored the first four points of the game behind layups from MacDonald and Liccese. The Eagles stormed back to score the next 10, pushing the game in their favor, 10-4. The Eagles were then able to hold the lead for most of the half.
Maritime climbed back into the game as a Liccese layup evened the game at 24 with six minutes to go in the opening half. This run proved to be the turning point in the game as Maritime held the lead throughout the remainder of the game. Liccese scored the final 10 points of the half for Maritime including a three-point shot with 39 seconds left to push the lead to seven, 39-32. After the first half, the Privateers led the game by a 40-36 score.
In the second half, the Privateers were led by their two big men. Macdonald posted 10 points and 5 rebounds in the second half. He went 3-for-4 from the field, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line. While Hayes added nine points on 4-for-5 shooting.
The closest the Golden Eagles (3-7, 2-3 Skyline) came in the second half was at the 12:19 mark when they cut the lead to two, 51-49. Over the next few minutes, the Privateers went on a strong 10-2 run, including a three point shot from Walker, to increase their lead to 61-51 with just under eight minutes left to play.
Maritime will look to ride this momentum into its next game on Monday, January 4, against Sage inside Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium at 7 p.m.