HENNIKER, N.H. – Maine Maritime Academy men's basketball fell to New England College 96-84 on Friday night in North Atlantic Conference action.

The Mariners used two quick threes from Nicholas DePatsy (Waldoboro, Maine) and Brendan Newcomb (Holden, Maine) to take a 6-5 lead, but the Pilgrims went on an eight-point run to take a 13-6 lead at 16:29. New England College built a 37-20 lead with 7:35 remaining in the first half, but the Mariners responded with a six-point run to close the gap to 11 points.

The Pilgrims put together a 7-1 run, but back-to-back threes from DePatsy and five-straight points from Dylan Stevens (Wells, Maine) cut the deficit to six with 1:48 to go. The Pilgrims outscored the Mariners 5-4 in the final 90 seconds of the first half to take a 49-42 lead into halftime.

The Mariners outscored the Pilgrims 10-4 to open up the second half, led by back-to-back threes from DePatsy to close the gap to just one point but New England College went on an 11-2 run to retake a 10-point lead with 13:23 to go. A pair of threes from Nick Judge (Cushing, Maine) brought the Mariners within three at 10:48, but the Pilgrims outscored the Mariners 30-21 for the rest of the game to claim the 96-84 victory.

Tyler Thayer (Hermon, Maine) led the Mariners with 19 points, five rebounds, and one assist, while DePatsy ended the evening with 15 points, on all three-pointers, four rebounds, three assists and a steal and Stevens added 15 points, an assist and a steal. Judge tallied 14 points, four assists, and two rebounds and Newcomb scored 12 points, two assists, and a rebound.

Ricky Leonard led the Pilgrims with 21 points, on 8-for-13 shooting, and three assists. Jason Jones added a double-double of 18 points and 13 rebounds. Brenndan Rogers scored 18 points off the bench and Izaiah Winston-Brooks added 11 points.

The Mariners fall to 1-6 on the season and 0-3 in the NAC, while the Pilgrims improve to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference. Maine Maritime returns to action tomorrow against Colby-Sawyer at 1:30 pm.