USMMA, acting as the home team on the neutral floor of the Violets, took the lead at the outset courtesy a free throw by senior center Zach Wyatte. That would be the last time the Mariners held onto the lead for 34 minutes. Polytechnic stormed out to a ten point advantage less than four minutes into the contest and would take that same margin into the half leading the Mariners, 41-31.
In the second half it was more of the same from a hot-shooting Polytechnic squad who led by as many as 18 points with fifteen minutes remaining. But the Mariners continued to slowly chip away, disallowing PU to run away with it.
USMMA finally managed to get within 10 points with 5:31 remaining and the Mariners made their last stand at attempting to win the contest. Pat Grace ignited the charge with a steal and finish on the other end to make it an eight point Mariner deficit. Alex Loepker then added a three, followed by a Wyatte lay in the next trip down the floor to make it a three point game. Senior Paul Tricarico then made it a one-point PU lead with a strip and lay up with 4:12 left in regulation to pull USMMA to within one, 71-70.
Loepker continued his heroics, giving the Mariners their first lead since the 19:48 mark in the first period with a trifecta. USMMA upped the lead to as many as three points following a Wyatte free throw with 66 seconds left. Following a PU lay up, senior Lou Decarlo had an opportunity to make it a three point ball game with two freebies at the stripe, but he likewise went one-for-two, giving USMMA a two-point lead with 26 ticks on the clock. The missed free throws that would have sealed a tremendous comeback proved costly as Christopher Jean stroked the twine from downtown with five second left to give Polytechnic (1-1) the victory.
Led by Grace’s 16 points, four Mariners notched double-figures in the loss. Wyatte tallied 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Tricarico and Loeper added 11 and 10, respectively.
Lindon Ivazej led Polytechnic with a game-high 27 points. Daley Smiley added 17 points, while Jean notched nine with three coming at the end to preserve the win.
USMMA will take on Elmira in the consolation game on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. Elmira suffered a 81-40 shellacking at the hands of host NYU.
Newspaper Box Score Polytechnic University vs US Merchant Marine Academy 11/26/05 7pm at New York, NY (Coles Sports Center) At New York, NY (Coles Sports Center) POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY 78, US MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY 77 POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY (1-1) Ivezaj, Lindon 12-17 1-2 27; Smiley, Dale 5-8 3-4 17; Jean, Christopher 2-5 4-6 9; Young, Thomas 4-8 1-3 9; Wright, Jeff 3-7 0-0 6; Leibel, Robbie 2-5 0-2 5; Williams, Tahiem 0-0 4-4 4; Taylor Jr., Richard 0-3 1-2 1; Kelly, Mike 0-0 0-0 0; Norris III, Charles 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-55 14-23 78. US MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY (0-1) Grace, Pat 6-9 0-0 16; Wyatte, Zach 4-7 5-9 13; Tricarico, Paul 3-11 5-6 11; Loepker, Alex 3-6 1-2 10; Fassnacht, Jonathan 3-7 1-1 8; Hanson, Eric 2-6 1-2 6; Kelly, Brian 2-5 0-0 5; Oaks, Matt 1-3 2-2 4; McDade, Stephen 1-4 0-0 3; DeCarlos, Lou 0-2 1-2 1; Heal, Ray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 16-24 77. Polytechnic University........ 41 37 - 78 US Merchant Marine Academy.... 31 46 - 77 3-point goals-Polytechnic University 8-17 (Smiley, Dale 4-6; Ivezaj, Lindon 2-3; Leibel, Robbie 1-4; Jean, Christopher 1-1; Norris III, Charles 0-2; Wright, Jeff 0-1), US Merchant Marine Academy 11-24 (Grace, Pat 4-6; Loepker, Alex 3-4; McDade, Stephen 1-1; Fassnacht, Jonathan 1-2; Hanson, Eric 1-2; Kelly, Brian 1-4; Heal, Ray 0-1; DeCarlos, Lou 0-1; Oaks, Matt 0-1; Tricarico, Paul 0-2). Fouled out--Polytechnic University-Wright, Jeff; Smiley, Dale, US Merchant Marine Academy-None. Rebounds-Polytechnic University 40 (Leibel, Robbie 8), US Merchant Marine Academy 34 (Wyatte, Zach 10). Assists-Polytechnic University 17 (Jean, Christopher 9), US Merchant Marine Academy 17 (DeCarlos, Lou 5). Total fouls-Polytechnic University 21, US Merchant Marine Academy 19. A-567 Polytechnic Advances to the NYU Thanksgiving Tournament Championship and will face NYU at 7pm.