Centenary held the lead just once on their opening possession as Steve McNamara put the Cyclones on the board with a three ball. After USMMA broke a five-all tie, the Mariners would lead the rest of the way.
Senior center Zach Wyatte initiated a 13-2 run capped by a Loepker three-pointer. The Lafayette, Indiana native went off over the course of the spurt scoring the last seven points, including two from downtown.
USMMA continued their dominance for the remainder of the period, taking an 18 point (40-22) lead into the break.
The story was the same in the second half as Kings Point doubled its halftime lead on a three-ball by senior forward Eric Hanson to give the Mariners a 37 point edge.
Everyone saw action in the game, including freshmen Eric Icke (two points, two rebounds), Jason Williams (two points, two rebounds) and Tyler Gavis (two rebounds).
Loepker led the way for Kings Point matching his career-high with a game-high 23 points to go along with seven boards, while Wyatte added 12 points in the win. Senior guard Paul Tricarico put forth another solid effort with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, while classmate Brian Kelly notched nine points on the day.
Tobias Thomas and Andre Harris paced the Cyclones (2-14, 0-8 Skyline) with 10 points each.
“This was a big week for us after starting 0-2 in the league,” remarked fifth year head coach Chris Carideo after the win. “The win over Farmingdale State helped with our confidence and it carried over to today’s game. We have to continue to play our brand of basketball heading into next week’s two games. If we play with spirit and energy, we’ll be fine.”
USMMA (8-6, 3-2 Skyline) returns to action on Tuesday at City College of New York at 7 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score Centenary College vs U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 01/21-06 4:00 p.m. at Kings Point, NY At Kings Point, NY U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY 80, CENTENARY COLLEGE 48 CENTENARY COLLEGE (2-14, 0-8) KYLE WARNER 4-17 0-0 10; ANDRE HARRIS 3-9 4-8 10; TAYLLOR COOPER 3-4 1-3 7; STEPHEN MCNAMARA 1-4 4-5 7; TOBIAS THOMAS 2-6 0-0 4; GEORGE OPOKU 2-6 0-2 4; JOSH DAVIDSON 0-11 3-4 3; JUSTIN DEFEO 1-2 0-0 2; DAJUAN EARLE 0-0 1-2 1; ROB ARVIDSON 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-60 13-24 48. U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY (8-6, 3-2) Loepker, Alex 9-15 0-1 23; Wyatte, Zach 5-8 2-3 12; Tricarico, Paul 4-5 0-0 9; Kelly, Brian 3-7 2-4 9; Hanson, Eric 2-3 2-2 7; Oaks, Matt 2-4 0-0 6; Sanders, Jimmy 2-8 0-0 5; McDade, Stephen 1-5 0-0 3; Icke, Eric 1-3 0-0 2; Fassnacht, Jonathan 1-2 0-0 2; Williams, Jason 1-3 0-0 2; Heal, Ray 0-2 0-0 0; Grace, Pat 0-3 0-0 0; Gavis, Tyler 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 31-68 6-12 80. Centenary College............. 22 26 - 48 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.. 40 40 - 80 3-point goals-Centenary College 3-20 (KYLE WARNER 2-9; STEPHEN MCNAMARA 1-3; JOSH DAVIDSON 0-6; ROB ARVIDSON 0-1; ANDRE HARRIS 0-1), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 12-35 (Loepker, Alex 5-8; Oaks, Matt 2-4; McDade, Stephen 1-2; Hanson, Eric 1-1; Kelly, Brian 1-4; Tricarico, Paul 1-1; Sanders, Jimmy 1-6; Heal, Ray 0-2; Grace, Pat 0-3; Williams, Jason 0-1; Fassnacht, Jonathan 0-1; Icke, Eric 0-2). Fouled out--Centenary College-TOBIAS THOMAS, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy-None. Rebounds-Centenary College 38 (GEORGE OPOKU 10), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 53 (Tricarico, Paul 7; Loepker, Alex 7). Assists-Centenary College 6 (KYLE WARNER 2; ANDRE HARRIS 2; JUSTIN DEFEO 2), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 22 (Tricarico, Paul 4; McDade, Stephen 4). Total fouls-Centenary College 17, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 26.