CASTINE, Maine – Maine Maritime Academy Men's Basketball dropped a nail-biter to Colby-Sawyer College 70-67, on Friday night inside of Smith Gymnasium in North Atlantic Conference Action. 

The Mariners jumped out to an 8-4 lead with 17:01 remaining in the first half, following a three pointer from Nick Holt (Ellsworth, Maine) and a layup from Tyler Thayer (Hermon, Maine). The Mariners held onto their lead until Taylor Grande hit a three to tie it at 13-13 with 13:04 remaining. The two teams battled back and forth before Dylan Price (Madison, Maine) hit a long three as time expired to send the game into halftime tied at 32-apiece.

The Chargers led by as much as 13 points with 9:17 remaining in the game, but the Mariners continued to battle, closing the gap to 56-55 following an 11-point run capped off by another Holt three with 3:47 left in the game.

Maine Maritime used back-to-back three pointers by Zachary Radcliffe (Rumford, Maine) and Holt to close the Chargers lead to 64-61 with 25 seconds remaining in the game, but Colby-Sawyer answered from the line going 5-6 in the final 12 seconds of the game to claim the 70-67 victory.

With the loss the Mariners fall to 2-18 overall and 1-12 in NAC play, while the Chargers improve to 13-5 overall and 11-2 in the conference. 

Thayer led the Mariners with 18 points, five assists, three rebounds, and a steal, while Holt finished the evening with 14 points, six rebounds, an assist and a steal. Radcliffe added 11 points, three rebounds, and three assists off the bench and Tyler Gilson (Thomaston, Maine) rounded out the Mariners in double figures with 10 points and six rebounds. 

Grande ended the evening with a game-high 19 points, off the bench, to lead the Chargers, while Peter Donato added 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting, and eight rebounds. Zach Bean contributed 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, and Jake Maynard picked up a game-high nine boards to go along with three points.

The Mariners host New England College tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for another North Atlantic Conference battle, while the Chargers travel to Husson to take on the Eagles, also at 1:00 p.m.