KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Feb. 15, 2025) – U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's basketball senior
Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.) not only became the 30th Mariner to join the 1,000-point club on Saturday, but he also drained the game-winner in the final second of play to help USMMA overcome a 12-point deficit and defeat Skyline rival SUNY Maritime, 51-50, in the annual 142 Game at the Liebertz Gymnasium. The victory improved the Mariners' record to 9-14 (5-9 Skyline), while the Privateers fell to 13-10, 9-5 Skyline in defeat.
Game Links
Vencel needed just eight points to reach 1,000 coming into the game and he finished with 14 and a team-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. Fellow senior
Drew Zalescik (Lambertville, N.J.), who joined the 1,000-point club earlier in the season, led all players on the afternoon with 19 points, while also grabbing down seven boards. Freshman
Max Koeppl (Plano, Texas) rounded out the Mariners in double-figures with a 12-point, seven-rebound effort.
Vencel's milestone moment came early in the second half when his layup gave USMMA a 29-28 lead, the hosts' first advantage of the day. However, Maritime answered with a 16-2 run and the Mariners were trailing by a lot with a little to play.
The Privateers held a 12-point lead, 44-32, with just 5:34 remaining in the second half, but 11-straight points by Merchant Marine on a layup by Zalescik and then three-straight 3-pointers by Vencel, Koeppl and Zalescik pulled the Mariners within one point.
After a layup by Maritime, Koeppl nailed another trey that tied the game up at 46-46, The Privateers responded once again with a layup, but yet another 3, this time by junior
Clark Castleberry (Reston, Va.), put the Mariners ahead 49-48 with 53 ticks left.
Maritime freshman Jake Devaney hit a layup that put the visitors back ahead with 34 seconds left, but then he later went to the line for a 1-and-1 and missed the first which gave the Mariners the ball with 16 seconds left. After the ball went out of bounds with 3.8 ticks left, Head Coach
Rob Pryor called a timeout to set up a play.
Off of Vencel's inbound, Zalescik missed a fade-away jumper from the left, but Vencel rushed into the post, jumped and tipped in what stood as the game-winner with 0.8 seconds left after the referees conferred with each other.
On the ensuing inbound, the Privateers' attempt at a buzzer-beater by Devaney fell short.
Evan Block finished with a team-high 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for Maritime, while also tying USMMA freshman
Mason Lavergne (Baton Rouge, La.) for the game-best with four assists. Devaney added 12 points and nine boards and Jake Murphy contributed nine points.
USMMA returns to action on Wednesday night, Feb. 19, when they travel out to Patchogue, N.Y., to face St. Joseph's-Long Island. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Golden Eagles' Danzi Center Gym.
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