BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The Maritime Basketball team escaped with a 68-66 victory on Tuesday evening as the Privateers earned their second win of the season from the Campbell Sports Center over the Sarah Lawrence Gryphons.

Maritime was led by sophomore Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius), who recorded a career-best 20 points and also tied his career-high with 15 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Sophomore John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) scored the go-ahead basket with 4.2 seconds remaining as he finished the night with six points.
 
Junior Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching) was second on the team in scoring as he scored 15 points on the contest. Sophomore Akil Spruill (Queens, N.Y./Holy Cross) reached double figures with his career-best 14 points, eclipsing his previous career high of 13 set at Fredonia last season against Potsdam.
 
After Sarah Lawrence jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead, Maritime scored the next eight points of the contest with MacDonald connecting on four of the eight points. They Gryphons netted the next 10 points of the contest to take a 12-8 advantage before the Privateers were able to put an end to the run on a MacDonald layup.
 
After a MacDonald defensive board, the sophomore tied the game at a dozen off a pass from freshman Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point). Sophomore Christian Bilger (Wimberley, Texas/Wimberley) gave Maritime the lead back with a pair from the charity stripe with 12:24 to go in the half.
 
Walker then stepped back for a three-point basket from the right elbow off a pass from down low by Hayes. MacDonald drained a jumper off a pass from Spruill, who got in on the scoring action with a layup to move Maritime ahead by a 21-14 margin.
 
Sarah Lawrence went on another brief run to close the gap at 23-20, but Hayes responded with a jumper to give Maritime 25 points. The Gryphons tied the game at 29 with 1:40 to go in the half, but Spruill dropped back for a three-point basket off a Liccese pass to give Maritime a 32-29 lead.
 
After junior Brendon Halligan (Durham, N.Y./Cairo-Durham) connected on a layup, the Gryphons made one free throw to make the score 34-32 in favor of the Privateers heading into the halftime break.
 
Out of the break Hayes converted a layup that was answered by a Sarah Lawrence layup. Junior Tim Hoch (Coventry, R.I./Fishers Island (N.Y.)) knocked down a three-point basket to put Maritime ahead by four, but again the Gryphons kept the game within two possessions through the first 11 minutes of the second half.
 
After a series of misses from both sides, Maritime obtained possession off a Hoch defensive rebound, and Hayes gave Maritime a seven-point lead at 55-48 with 8:04 left in the contest to give Maritime a three-possession lead.
 
Sarah Lawrence pulled to within one as they Gryphons scored three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Liccese answered with a layup to put Maritime back on top at 60-56. Both sides exchanged field goals, followed by Spruill sinking a pair of clutch free throws to give Maritime a six-point lead back at 64-58 with 4:02 to go. Sarah Lawrence continued to chip away and eventually took a lead at 66-64 on a three pointer. MacDonald then answered with two free throws to tie the contest at 66 with 1:22 left in regulation.
 
A missed three-pointer by Sarah Lawrence, turned into a turnover by the Privateers to give the ball back to the home team with 33 seconds left. On the ensuing in-bounds play, the Gryphons were called for a backcourt violation as the pass led the home team back into their defensive half of the court.
 
Maritime then in-bounded and Spruill handed off to Liccese, who started at the top of the circle and pushed wide left. Driving through the traffic in the lane, he put up a right-handed reverse layup with 4.2 seconds left to give Maritime a 68-66 lead.
 
Sarah Lawrence was unable to get a shot off as Maritime emerged with a one possession victory in the team's second straight trip to the Campbell Sports Center.
 
Maritime (2-10, 2-5 Skyline) will resume league play on Thursday evening, as the team takes to the road for a Skyline matchup against Farmingdale with game time slated for 7 p.m.
 
Sarah Lawrence (2-12, 0-10 Skyline) will head on the road this Saturday for a 1 p.m. start in nearby Riverdale, N.Y. for a league contest against the Mount St. Vincent Dolphins.