CASTINE — The Maine Maritime Academy men's basketball defeated Johnson State College 70-60 on Friday, Feb. 9 in North Atlantic Conference action inside of Smith Gymnasium.

With the victory the Mariners improve to 4-18 on the season and 3-12 in the conference, while the Badgers fall to 7-14 overall and 4-11 in the NAC. Maine Maritime returns to action Saturday, Feb. 10 against Lyndon State College at 3 pm.

Nicholas DePatsy (Waldoboro, Maine) hit a three-pointer to open up the game and sparked an 8-2 run by the Mariners. Maine Maritime began to build a lead, until the Badgers closed the gap to one, 12-11, at 12:05.

The Mariners responded with eight-unanswered points to make it 20-11 and held at 31-21 lead at halftime.

The Badgers slowly chipped away at the Mariners' lead and tied the game at 49-49 with 7:57 to play but Adam Richardson (Bradley, Maine) scored eight-consecutive points to give the Mariners a 57-49 lead with 4:24 to go.

The Mariners continued to rebuild their lead, and went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line in the final minute to pick up the conference victory.

Richardson led all players with 23 points, and also contributed six rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block. Brendan Newcomb (Holden, Maine) added 14 points, three steals, two rebounds and an assist and Riley Jorgenson (Vienna, Va.) added a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, while also adding five assists, and two steals.

DePatsy ended the evening with 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Marqwon Wynn led the Badgers with 18 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals, while teammate Vernon Slater added 10 points, three assists, one rebound and one steal.

Maine Maritime shot 41.8 percent from the floor, while the Badgers shot 34.3 percent. The Mariners also held a 41-37 edge in rebounds.

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