BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, N.Y. – On Saturday the Maritime basketball team traveled to Brooklyn to take on the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers from the Pope Physical Education Center and fell to their hosts by an 88-67 score.
 
The contest was Maritime's first matchup against an NCAA Division I opponent since the 2006-07 season, when the Privateers fell to the Army Black Knights by the score of 92-42 on December 18, 2006.
 
Maritime was led in the matchup by senior Isaiah Hayes (Jamaica, N.Y./Queens Teaching), who tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds while playing a team-high 37 minutes on the court. Hayes also had a game-high five blocks to go along with two of the team's 13 assists on the night.
 
Senior Patrick MacDonald (Buffalo, N.Y./Canisius) added 10 points and had six rebounds, while sophomore Brendan McGovern (Seaford, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) added 10 points off the bench. Senior John Liccese (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman), junior James Bonner (Timonium, Md./Dulaney) and freshman Nick McTighe (Merrick, N.Y./Holy Trinity) each had six points in the loss, while freshman Chris Ruscillo (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) added five points. Sophomore Jermaine Brathwaite (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) added four points, while senior Josh Raime (Elmont, N.Y./Holy Cross) rounded out the scoring as he went 1-for-1 from beyond the arc.
 
Senior Tim McQuail (Middle Village, N.Y./Cathedral Prep) made his season debut and had three rebounds, with sophomore Michael Walker (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) adding a pair of rebounds. Rookie Chezare Bonilla (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) also played seven minutes and was 0-for-1 from the field.
 
Freshman Brennan Whelan (Northport, N.Y./Northport) got the start and added two assists, as it was Liccese to lead the team with four helpers on the night. Hayes and Ruscillo each added two assists on the night, while both MacDonald and Liccese were credited with the two Maritime steals.
 
The Terriers connected on the first basket but MacDonald responded with a layup off a pass from Liccese to even the score at two. After a St. Francis three-pointer MacDonald had another layup and a jumper to give Maritime a 6-5 advantage. St. Francis went on a 16-6 run to take a 22-11 lead with 11:10 left in the opening half. The Terrier lead swelled to 27 as they took a 56-29 lead into the halftime break.
 
In the first half Hayes led the team with 11 points, while MacDonald, Liccese and McGovern all closed out the first half with six points apiece.
 
Maritime was able to turn the table on the Terriers in the second half, outscoring their host 38-32 in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
 
After St. Francis took a 30-point lead to open the second half, MacDonald converted on a layup and then made two free throws to trim the lead to 28. After St. Francis connected on one free throw, McGovern connected on four from the stripe followed by a layup from Ruscillo. A Terrier jump shot was followed by a three-pointer by McTighe to cut the lead down to 62-39.
 
Maritime was able to get the lead down to 21 on two occasions as Raime drilled a three-pointer with 8:51 to go in the half, and when Bonner connected on a field goal with 3:13 left in regulation. Bonner converted a shot with 2:05 left to cut the lead down to 22 again at 84-62, before Ruscillo drained a three with 1:45 to slice the lead to under 20 points before St. Francis closed out the game on a quick 4-2 run to hang on for the 21-point win at 88-67.
 
Maritime (3-4, 1-3 Skyline) will return to Skyline Conference play on Tuesday evening, when the team makes up its postponed game with Yeshiva. The Privateers travel to the Max Stern Athletic Center on Tuesday evening in their final conference matchup of the 2017 calendar year.
 
St. Francis Brooklyn (3-8) will take on Saint Peter's in their final non-conference game of the season on Saturday, December 23 before opening up Northeast Conference play on Friday, December 29 as they travel to Connecticut to take on Sacred Heart.
 
The result and statistics of the game will not count towards Maritime's overall record or season statistics as the game was contested as an exhibition event for the Privateers. The result and the statistics does officially count for Saint Francis Brooklyn.