Farmingdale State - 82, Merchant Marine - 62
Kings Point, N.Y. - FSC sophomore guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) scored 20 points, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range, to help the Rams earn their 10th straight victory, 82-62, at Merchant Marine this afternoon.
The Farmingdale State men's basketball team improved to 14-5 overall and 10-0 in the Skyline, while Merchant Marine dropped to 5-13, 2-8.
Trailing 5-2 early in the first half, the Rams used back-to-back layups by sophomore forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) to take a 6-5 advantage. The Mariners quickly answered with an Eric Sobocinski (Southampton, N.J.) 3-pointer to retake the lead, 8-6.
Merchant Marine would not relinquish the lead again until a Ryan Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y.) 3-pointer with 9:10 remaining in the half put FSC up 20-19.
Tied 27-27 with 1:46 left in the half, the Rams would use a pair of free-throws each from senior forward Weldon Irvine (Queens, N.Y.) and junior guard Trey Kinard (Deer Park, N.Y.) to take a four-point advantage, 31-27.
Farmingdale State would take a 35-29 lead into the break as sophomore guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) led the way with nine first half points including 5-of-6 from the free-throw line.
After a layup just 18 seconds into the second half by Merchant Marine forward David Washington (Frisco, Texas) cut the FSC advantage to four, the Rams would go on a 24-6 run over the next 7:49 to take a commanding 22-point lead, 59-37. Three straight Graham 3-pointers capped off the FSC run.
With 7:39 remaining a pair of free-throws by Sobocinski cut the Mariners deficit to 18, 67-48. Farmingdale State would answer with back-to-back 3's by Graham and Kennedy to increase the advantage to 25 with 5:55 to play.
Graham would hit his final 3-pointer of the game just 51 seconds later, following a Merchant Marine layup, to give the Rams their largest lead of the game, 76-50.
FSC would maintain a 20-point lead the rest of the way in the 82-62 road victory.
Farmingdale State junior guard Liam Monaghan (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) finished with 14 points after shooting 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, while Irvine pulled down a game-high 11 boards.
Junior guard Christian Wittendorf (Granger, Ind.) scored a team-high 14 points for the Mariners.
FSC next will play host to Maritime for a Skyline Conference game on Tuesday, January 31st at 6:00 p.m.
(Game story by Dominic Suhovsky)
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