CASTINE —  Maine Maritime Academy men's basketball fell to Saint Joseph's College 82-75 in the non-conference season opener for both teams on Wednesday night, inside of Smith Gymnasium.

The Monks opened up the scoring with a layup from Ian Mileikis, and the two teams exchanged the early lead. The Mariners went on a 10-2 run led by four points from Adam Richardson (Bradley, Maine) to take a 12-6 lead but the Monks chipped away at the lead and tied the game at 19-19 with 8:05 remaining.

The Monks took a five-point lead with 5:43 left in the half but the Mariners outscored the Monks 17-10 in the last minutes of the half to take a 38-36 lead into halftime.

Nicholas DePatsy led the Mariners in the first half with 12 points, going a perfect 4-for-4 from the beyond arc, while Mileikis led the Monks with 16 points.

The Monks retook the lead early in the second half, and never relinquished it, despite an eight-point run from the Mariners to close the deficit to 71-70 with 3:10 remaining. The Monks scored seven-unanswered point to build up a 77-70 lead and hung on for the 82-75 victory.

Richardson fell just shy of a triple-double to lead the Mariners with 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, the junior also added a pair of steals and a block. Nick Judge and DePatsy each contributed 15 points, with Judge adding two rebounds and an assist and DePatsy chipping in with three assists and two rebounds. Tyler Thayer rounded out the Mariners in double-digits with 13 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Mileikis led the Monks with 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals, Darian Barry added 20 points, six rebounds, and two assists and Aaron Hall contributed 11 points, three rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
The Mariners shot 52.9 percent from the floor, while the Monks shot 50 percent. The Monks held the 35-25 edge in rebounds.

The Mariners fall to 0-1, while the Monks improve to 1-0. Maine Maritime returns to action on Saturday when they host Wheelock at 6 p.m. in the first game of the Maine Maritime Tip-Off Tournament. 

Reach the sports department at: sports@penbaypilot.com.