Box Score

KINGS POINT, N.Y. – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team lost to rival Coast Guard on Saturday afternoon by the score of 70-55 inside the Liebertz Gymnasium.
 
The Bears took an early lead against the host Mariners after scoring 12 consecutive points following the contest-opening layup by the Mariners. With Coast Guard holding a 12-2 lead, USMMA was unable to make any slice into the deficit and trailed at halftime by a 34-15 margin.
 
Coast Guard led by as many as 31 points with just over eight minutes to go, before USMMA cut the deficit late in regulation as the Mariners connected on 12 consecutive points to shrink the Bear lead down to a dozen at 63-51. Eight of the 12 Mariner points came from sophomore Josh Kauffman (East Providence, R.I.), who ultimately led the USMMA squad with 22 points on the afternoon. Coast Guard closed out the game on a 7-4 run to come away with the 70-55 win.
 
Kauffman led USMMA with six field goals, on 10 attempts, while also connected on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. He also sank six of seven from the free-throw line and added two rebounds and a steal in the effort. Second on the scoresheet for the Mariners was classmate Bryce Bristow (Plano, Texas) with nine points on the afternoon, including a pair of rebounds with two steals and two assists.
 
USMMA was led by freshman Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.), who ended the contest with a team-best five assists and five steals as he picked up eight points on the game. Senior Isaiah Nix (Yorktown, Va.) crashed the boards for the Mariners with a team-best eight rebounds and he scored six on 2-of-4 shooting, while also connecting on both of his free throws and adding the team's lone block of the game.
 
Freshman Kody Robinson (Woodbridge, N.J.) had four points for the Mariners, while senior Blaine McDonough (Marietta, Ga.), junior Dante Spina (Miami, Fla.), and sophomore DeMarcus Spivey (Ashburn, Va.) each made one field goal to round out the scoring effort for USMMA.
 
Despite leading in the turnover battle as USMMA committed just 13 to Coast Guard's 22, the Mariners were only able to connect on 27.6% from the field on the game to the Bears' 45.3%. USMMA connected on 39.3% in the second half, but it was not enough to erase the 29-point halftime deficit.
 
USMMA (2-4, 0-1 Skyline) continues its stretch of four-straight non-confernece games on Thursday, when the Mariners visit the Baruch Bearcats at 7:30 p.m.

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