The game remained close in the early minutes, with Saint Joseph’s holding a 20-18 lead with 8:27 left in the first half. However, that would be the Bears only lead of the entire game as Maritime would go on a 7-0 run and never looked back after an eleven point lead at the half.
Senior forward Gerard Danzy (Monroeville, AL/.Hillcrest) led all scorers with 17 points, giving the Privateers a needed boost on several occasions. Also providing a majority of their scoring in the first half, sophomore guard Nikero Barbes (Freeport, Bahamas/Angelican) finished the game with 16 points after putting up 10 in the first half. Barbes’ 16 points marks a new single-game career high, replacing the 15 point career high he scored back on February 15th, 2005 against Medgar Evers College.
The Privateers shot well as a team, 41.7 percent from the field, 50 percent from downtown and a season high, 76.2 percent from the charity stripe. Also making a huge statement this game, was the Privateers defensive efforts which resulted in 21 forced turnovers that led to 25 points in their favor.
Last year’s leading scorer, senior center Robert Benton (Montgomery, AL/GW Carver) had a quiet 12 points, shooting just under 50 percent from the field. Early foul trouble kept Benton seated on the bench for a good portion of the second half. In his absence, the Maritime bench stepped up scoring 35 points including Israel’s 14, nine from freshman Timothy Dougherty (Fresh Meadows, NY/St. Francis Prep) and eight out of sophomore guard Alton Williams (Pensacola, FL/Pensacola).
Sophomore center Chris Olaskiewicz (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter’s) led the way for Saint Joseph’s with 19 points and 12 rebounds while senior guard Billy Haufmann (Queens, NY/Christ the King) finished with 17 points.
After today’s win, the Privateers now improve to 2-2 on the year, while Saint Joseph’s falls to 4-4. Next up for Maritime will be their first Skyline Conference game of the year when they travel to Farmingdale, NY to take on the Rams of Farmingdale State. That game will be on December 8th and is scheduled to begin at 8:00pm.
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