KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Dec. 7, 2022) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team rode a strong defensive effort to a 63-50 victory over the Purchase College Panthers. USMMA earned their way back to .500 at 3-3 overall and moved to 1-0 in Skyline Conference play. Purchase in defeat dropped to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in conference.
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Coming into the game, head coach
Rob Pryor was seeking a defensive improvement. In response, the Mariners put forth a stellar 40-minute defensive performance to allow a season low 50 points. Against a Panthers offense that averaged 72 points per game entering tonight, Merchant Marine played sound team defense and contested nearly every Purchase shot in the first half.
On all areas of the court, the Panthers could not solve the Mariners' defensive riddle as Purchase shot 27.8% from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Not only did the Panthers struggle to shoot, but they also failed to get to the charity stripe. Zero free-throw attempts in the first half gave USMMA's improving defense even more confidence.
Offensively, the Mariners shared the rock as no scorer had more than five points at halftime. A diversified attack led a littered stat sheet and eight of the 11 Mariners who saw playing time notched at least two points in the first half. A first half that saw USMMA shoot 39.3% from the field.
All these positives for
Rob Pryor's squad culminated in a 28-24 Mariners lead as the two teams headed to the locker room. Purchase's 24 points was also a season low for points allowed by the Mariners in a half this season.
The saying goes that defense leads to offense, and that is exactly what happened for Merchant Marine in half number two. After shooting 2-for-13 from deep in the opening half, the Mariners' sharpshooting ability came to life. Freshman
Caleb Hutchins (Buffalo, N.Y.), who had started his career 0-for-4 from downtown, ignited his team's offense with his first career make from beyond the arc.
From there USMMA's offense kept their foot on the gas as sophomore
Drew Zalescik (Lambertville, N.J.) joined the party off a steal from fellow sophomore
Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.).
Zalescik's layup extend the lead to double digits for the first time all night at 36-26 with 18:31 on the clock.
Including that layup from Zalescik, he and Vencel would combine to score the next six points in for Merchant Marine in a 2:45 span. Up 40-28, Hutchins delivered another strike from long range. The freshman's second straight three put the boys in blue up 13 points at 43-30 with 14:51 remaining.
Hutchins' outside shots opened up the interior for the Mariners' offense and they took full advantage. Layups from Zalescik, sophomore
Kody Robinson (Woodbridge, N.J.), and senior
Kevin Doty (Bayport, N.Y.) put Purchase on their heels defensively not knowing what to expect.
Robinson sealed the deal with a long three from his office on the elbow to punch the Mariners' lead up to 60-47 with 4:17 remaining. A 4-for-10 mark from downtown in the second half put a bow on the Mariners' final game in Kings Point of the 2022 calendar year.
Outside from an excellent team game, the hot start to the season for Zalescik continued. For the second straight game, the sophomore led the Mariners in scoring with 14 points, a game-high, 11 of which came in the second half. Zalescik has been on a tear shooting the ball, shooting 56.9% from the field and 57.9% from deep six games into the season.
The Mariners will look to continue their winning ways this Saturday when they head across the water to take on SUNY Maritime at 1:00 P. M. on Saturday, Dec. 10.Live links for the game will be available with links on
the USMMA Men's Basketball Schedule Page.
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