Farmingdale State - 89, Lehman - 86
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Tied 86-86 with 1.9 seconds remaining in overtime, Farmingdale State junior guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) connected on the game-winning 3-pointer to lead the Rams to an 89-86 victory over non-conference opponent Lehman College tonight in Farmingdale, N.Y.
After an Andrew Utate (Washington Heights, N.Y.) 3-pointer put the Lightning (2-2) ahead 19-13 with 11:09 left in the first half, the Rams (2-2) answered with a 7-0 run, including five points from sophomore guard Anthony Miller Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y.) to take a one-point lead.
Tied 27-27 with 5:50 on the clock, FSC used back-to-back layups by junior guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Jermaine Fraser (Valley Stream, N.Y.) on their next two possessions to open up a four-point advantage. Farmingdale State extended the lead to five, 34-29, on a Liam Monaghan (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) 3 before nine straight Lehman points put the Lightning back in front with 57 seconds left in the first half.
With 0.1 seconds remaining, FSC sophomore guard Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit 2-of-3 at the line to send the Rams into the break trailing by two, 38-36.
Platt tallied a team-high nine first half points for Farmingdale State, while Utate recorded 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting for Lehman.
Tied 55-55 with 14:05 remaining in the second half, a 9-0 Lehman run over the next 3:12 put the Lightning up by nine. After LC extended the advantage to 72-60, a Mableton layup and a pair of Platt 3-pointers cut the FSC deficit to 75-71 with 6:05 on the clock.
Trailing 79-76 with less than three minutes left in the half, the Rams used a layup by Frasier and a 3 from Platt to regain the lead, 81-79. Lehman senior guard Mylo Mitchell (Miami, Fla.) scored the game-tying layup with 23 seconds remaining to even the score at 81-81 and force overtime.
The Lightning struck first in OT with a pair of Jean Marcial (Bronx, N.Y.) free-throws before a Monaghan layup tied the game with 1:41 on the clock. After a missed layup on Lehman's next possession, Graham was fouled and hit 1-of-2 at the line. Graham went to the line again on the Rams' next possession and hit both free-throw attempts to extend the advantage to three, 86-83, with 42 seconds left to play.
After a Lehman timeout, Mitchell hit a layup and free-throw after being fouled to tie the game at 86-86. With 1.9 seconds remaining, Graham hit the game-winning 3 as Farmingdale State earned the 89-86 victory.
Platt led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, including 6-for-11 from behind the arc to go along with game-highs in both assists (5) and steals (4). Graham finished the night with 21 points, five assists and five rebounds, while Monaghan had 16 points and four assists. Junior forward Eriq Williams (Valley Stream, N.Y.) had a team-high 11 rebounds and a game-high four blocks in the win.
The Lightning were led by Utate who scored 20 points and secured six rebounds.
The Rams next host Maritime for a Skyline Conference game on Saturday, December 2nd at noon on CYO Day. The event starts at 10:00 a.m. in the Nold Athletic Complex and is a clinic for kids of all ages that offers the chance to learn skills and drills from Farmingdale State coaches and players.
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