CASTINE--The Maine Maritime Academy men's basketball team played the first of two games within a 24-hour span on Tuesday evening against Plymouth State University, but the Mariners got off to a slow start in an 80-67 non-conference loss at Smith Gymnasium. Maine Maritime falls to 12-7 on the season while the Panthers even their overall mark to 10-10.

Maine Maritime Highlights

• Junior Kaden Horner led the team with 11 points to tie his career high.
• Sophomore Jack Banks (5 rebounds) and freshman Gabe Hagar chipped in 10 points apiece.
• Senior co-captain Curt Heinz (6 points, 3 assists) tied for the game lead with seven rebounds.
• Junior Josiah Dancy (6 points) led MMA with four assists.

Plymouth State Highlights

• Kevin Henry led PSU with 34 points on 16-for-26 field goal shooting, seven rebounds and six steals--all game highs.
• Kevin Newton-Delgado added 11 points, five rebounds and a game-best five assists.

How it Happened

• Plymouth State flustered the home team with a full-court press for much of the game, leading to a 34-4 advantage in points off (21 MMA) turnovers.
• The Panthers also used their team speed to outscore the Mariners, 25-3, on fastbreak points.
• Maine Maritime shot the ball fairly well by connecting on 23-of-47 field goals for 48.9 percent, including 10-for-25 for 40.0 percent from three-point range.
• But PSU was a bit sharper at 53.3 percent (32-60) from the field.
• The Panthers jumped out to a 12-5 lead with 14 minutes and 42 seconds left in the first half.
• Senior Markus Ramirez gave MMA its only lead at 3-2 on a 3ball.
• Plymouth State eventually built a 12-point lead, 20-8, on a Henry jumper on the fastbreak at the 11:10 mark.
• Maine Maritime battled back over the next 6:09 and cut the deficit to 32-30 after a layup by Heinz at 4:01.
• Horner keyed that 22-12 run with a trio of treys in a row.
• However, that would be the closest MMA would get as PSU ended the half on a 9-3 run to lead 41-33 at the intermission.
• In the second half, the Panthers spurted to a 45-35 cushion at the 17:44 mark and would hold a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.

Beyond the Boxscore

• Plymouth State is out of the Little East Conference where they sit with a conference record of 3-8.
• The Mariners are 0-5 lifetime against PSU, and the 67 points are the most MMA has scored against the Panthers.

Next Up

• Maine Maritime will look to forget the loss in quick order due to a quick turnaround focusing on North Atlantic Conference opponent UMaine-Farmington on the road tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m.