Throggs Neck, N.Y. - Hunter College men's basketball opened up the 2018-19 season with a 84-81 victory against SUNY Maritime on Tuesday night as junior George Keener led the Hawks with 35 points.

Keener earned a career-high in points, shooting 15-19 from the field in the win, with the help of 18 points from Gio Gabbidon.

Keener started the game hot, recording nine of the Hawks' first 11 points to give them the seven-point advantage. Despite tying the score once at 17, the Privateers trailed for the rest of the half as the Hawks found points from Keener, Gabbidon, Abraham Rosow and Danny Fusco to go into halftime with a 40-38 lead.

The Hawks fell behind early in the second half, but managed to pull ahead at the 12:42 minute mark off a three-pointer from Melvin Collins. From there the Purple and Gold took a seven-point advantage, going on a 14-6 run over a five-minute span to make the score 63-47. Keener took control by hitting a three-pointer and a layup for a ten-point Hunter lead with 3:21 to play.

The Privateers began their comeback to trail by just one point with two seconds on the clock, but Hunter closed it out, led by the efforts of Gabbidon, who converted on two big free throws to solidify the Purple and Gold victory, 84-81.

Keener gave his best Hunter performance so far in his career with 35 points, while Gabbidon had another strong performance for the Hawks, finishing with 18. Rosow chipped in a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Hawks on the boards.

The team will return to the court on Nov. 16 when they travel to a tournament at Rutgers-Newark where they will face Marywood University at 5 p.m.