NEW YORK (Dec. 10, 2024) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but was outscored 23-4 in points off turnovers and came up short in a 65-63 defeat on the road at Hunter. USMMA fell to 4-3, while Hunter improved to 2-7.
 
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• Box Score

Senior Drew Zalescik (Lambertville, N.J.) had a 20-point, 20-rebound double-double to pace the Mariners. Senior Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.) added 14 points and junior Clark Castleberry (Reston, Va.) finished with 10. USMMA shot 43.1 percent (28-of-65) from the floor, but made just 3-of-17 3-pointers (17.6 percent) and committed 18 turnovers.
 
Enzo Caceres-Roussel finished with 16 points to lead Hunter. The Hawks shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the floor and went 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) from long range.
 
The teams traded baskets before the Hawks scored five-straight points to take a 9-4 lead at the 17:04 mark. USMMA scored the next five points and took a 10-9 lead when freshman Max Koeppl (Plano, Texas) made a layup. After Hunter went back up by one, freshman Mason Lavergne (Baton Rouge, La.) drained a 3-pointer and Castleberry made consecutive buckets to put the Mariners up, 17-11, with 11:33 to go.
 
The Mariners held a 19-16 advantage when freshman Colin Hart (Santa Rosa Beach, Fla.) made a step back jumper to open an 11-0 run that gave USMMA a 30-16 lead with just 5:27 left in the half. The Hawks responded immediately, however, closing the half on a 13-0 run that cut the USMMA lead to just 30-29 at the break.
 
A Koeppel 3-pointer capped a 7-2 run to start the second half as the Mariners took a 37-31 lead. USMMA still led by six, 41-35, before a 6-0 run from the Hawks tied the game at 41-41 with 13:15 to play.
 
The score was tied at 50-50 with 6:57 remaining when Hunter went on an 8-2 run to go up by six. Vencel scored the next five points to pull the Mariners to within one, 58-57, before Hunter scored the next four points and again led by five with 2:41 to go. USMMA then answered with consecutive baskets from Zalescik that once again made it a one-point game. The Mariners trailed, 65-63, after a Hunter free throw with six seconds left and had one final look, but a desperation heave by Zalescik from just inside halfcourt missed the mark.
 
The Mariners host St. Joseph's-Brooklyn for a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Dec. 14.
 
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