THROGGS NECK, N.Y. - A slow start out of the gates proved to be costly for the Maritime basketball team, as the Privateers fell to the Old Westbury Panthers by an 89-72 margin on Saturday afternoon at the Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium.

Junior Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) led the way for Maritime netting his seventh double double of the season, scoring 24 points on a 9-18 shooting effort from the field and 6-7 from the charity stripe. The center also collected 11 total boards on the afternoon, seven of them coming from the offensive end, and also rejected two Panther shots. Senior Tim Hoch (Coventry, R.I./Fishers Island (N.Y.)) added 19 points and five rebounds for the Privateers.

Hoch started things off for Maritime, opening the contest up with a three-point shot from junior John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman). From there, the Privateers struggled to find the bottom of the net for the remainder of the first half, shooting just 27.3 percent from the field in the opening frame. The Panthers began to take over, using an early 13-5 run that spanned 5:36 to pull away from the Privateers. It wasn't long before Maritime clawed back, thanks to back to back buckets by Liccese. Maritime once again took the lead with 7:17 remaining in the first half, as Tim McQuail (Middle Village, N.Y./Cathedral Prep) charged in with a big layup to force the Privateers past the Panthers. However, the Panthers dominated the remainder of the half, storming into intermission coming off of an impressive 21-3 run.

Coming back out on to the floor, Old Westbury continued their dominant performance, despite an improved 40 percent Privateer shooting effort in the later frame. Maritime looked to shift the momentum early in the second half with a big two-handed slam by MacDonald off a fastbreak, who then followed that with a block at the other end of the court. Two consecutive triples by Malik Clark (Central Islip, N.Y./Central Islip) and Tim McQuail (Middle Village, N.Y./Cathedral Prep) cut the Old Westbury lead to 71-56. However, the Panther office proved to be too strong, as Old Westbury's Luckens Victor stormed off the bench and took control, netting 10 of his 14 points in the final 12:54 of play to help the Panthers make the final push past Maritime.

Old Westbury's Jamail Stanley finished with an outstanding performance for the Panthers, netting 31 points and collecting 13 boards on the day.

With the loss, Maritime falls to 6-7 overall on the season and 2-4 in Skyline Conference action, while Old Westbury improves to 6-7, 3-2 in Skyline play.

The team looks to bounce back from the loss on Tuesday when they play host to the New Rochelle Blue Angels in a non-conference battle scheduled for 7:00 P.M. in the Riesenberg Hall Gymnasium.