Mariners Shoot Past CCNY

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Junior guard Pat Grace recorded his 17 points on 5-for-9 shooting from behind the arc and five rebounds to lead the United States Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball team to an 81-55 victory over CCNY on Monday night. Sophomore guard Chad Ray also pitched in 17 points on 5-for-8 shooting from behind the arc.  

USMMA improves to 7-9 overall and 2-3 in Landmark Conference play while CCNY falls to 3-16 and 2-6 in CUNYAC play.     

Sophomore guard Ryan Samuel helped out the Mariners with 13 points, five assists, four steals and four rebounds. Freshman forward Matt Hueber added eight points, 11 rebounds and two assists. Leading the way for the CCNY was Taleek Norman with 20 points and five rebounds. Franklin Canales pitched in eight points and 11 rebounds.  

The Mariners got on the board first when Grace knocked down his first three-pointer of the game and Samuel set in a fast break layup. The Beavers answered back with a jumper by Norman to make the score 5-2. After a layup by Rich Roach to make the score 7-4, Norman for CCNY netted two baskets to pull ahead of the Mariners 8-7. At 10:25, Felix Navarro knocked down two free throws to stop a 7-0 run by USMMA, which pulled CCNY within four points, 18-14. With one second on the clock Roach went to the foul line and netted both to give the Mariners a 39-29 halftime lead.   

Leading the Mariners was Samuel in the first 20 minutes with 13 points, two rebounds and one assist. CCNY was led by Norman with 17 points and four rebounds.  

In the second half, CCNY struck first when Canales knocked down a jumper to narrow the gap, 39-31. USMMA answered back when Hueber set in a layup to go back up 10 points. With 9:09 left on the clock the Mariners went on a 10-0 run, with help from two three-pointers from Ray, until Franklyn Dunn hit a jumper to make the score 67-46. The Mariners ended the game with seven turnovers, forcing 15, to roll to a 81-55 win.        

Leading the Mariners was Ray in the second half with 14 points and one rebound. CCNY was led by Canales with six points and five rebounds.  

"After a tough weekend, I was happy that we were able to bounce back and play as well as we did," said Head Coach John Krikorian on the game. "It is tough to play these non-conference games in the heart of your conference season, but I thought our guys put forth a solid effort for 40 minutes against a good team. We really took over the game in the second half with some terrific defense."      

The Mariners will face two Landmark Conference opponents this weekend when they play host to Scranton University on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Moravian College on Sunday at 4 p.m.   This weekend is huge for our program to see where we stack up against two of the better teams in the conference, at home," said Krikorian on this weekends conference games. "We just need to continue to improve on the defensive end and give ourselves an opportunity to win the games. I am hoping that we can get a nice crowd at the gym and have a nice atmosphere for the two games."