CASTINE, Maine – Maine Maritime Academy men's basketball fell to Johnson State on Friday night 69-68, in North Atlantic Conference play inside of Smith Gymnasium.

The Mariners jumped out to a 6-0 lead, highlighted by four points from Brendan Newcomb (Holden, Maine). A three-pointer from Tyler Thayer (Hermon, Maine) at 13:29 and a jumper by Zachary Radcliffe (Rumford, Maine) at 12:49 gave the Mariners their biggest lead of the half, 21-8. The Badgers chipped away at the deficit, outscoring the Mariners 10-4 in the final five minutes of the half to send Maine Maritime into the intermission with a 34-30 lead.

Led by seven points from both Newcomb and Thayer, the Mariners shot 50 percent from the floor and won the battle of the boards in the first 20 minutes, outrebounding the Badgers 18-16. Asim Khan led Johnson in the first half with 10 points.

Tyler Gilson (Thomaston, Maine) scored back-to-back jumpers to give the Mariners a 40-32 lead early in the second half, but the Badgers tied things up at 40-40 at 15:40, on a Benjamin Holl three-pointer. Radcliffe sank a three with 13:42 remaining to give the Mariners a 45-42 lead.

With 11:20 to go, Gilson sank a jumper to stretch the lead to five, and Newcomb splashed a three to make it 50-42. Johnson's Rahim Bunch answered with a three of his own to keep the gap at 50-45, but Newcomb added two from the line, and Gilson added another jumper to make it a nine-point game with 9:24 to go.

Jackson hit a free throw with at 1:23 to give the Badgers a momentary 64-63 lead, but Thayer found an open Dylan Stevens (Wells, Maine) for a three to give the Mariners a two-point lead with just under a minute to go.

Bunch tied things up with a jumper, and Khan picked up a steal and a good free throw to give the Badgers a 67-66 lead with under 30 seconds to go. Stevens added a jumper to put the Mariners up 68-67 with 21 seconds remaining, but Khan came up big with on made jumper with four seconds to go, giving the Badgers the edge and the 69-68 victory.

Gilson led the Mariners with a career-high 16 points and a game-high 13 assists for a double-double, while also tallying a game-high four blocks, two assists and a steal. Stevens added 14 points, on 6-of-8 shooting, four rebounds and a steal and Newcomb added 12 points, three rebounds and three assists.

Khan led all players with 20 points, while pulling down eight rebounds, and two steals. Demetrius Slade tallied a double-double with 14 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block and Vernon Slater rounded out the Badgers in double-digits with 11 points off the bench.

The Mariners fall to 3-16 on the season, and 2-10 in NAC play, while the Badgers improve to 7-13 and 7-6 in the conference. Maine Maritime hosts Lyndon tomorrow at 3:00 p.m., while Johnson travels to Husson to take on the Eagles also for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff.