Farmingdale State - 60, Mount Saint Mary - 45
Newburgh, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team traveled to Newburgh, N.Y. for a Skyline Conference matchup against Mount Saint Mary and earned a 60-45 victory. The Rams improve to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
The Rams jumped out to an early 4-0 edge on a pair of layups by sophomore guard Troy Feeney (Hewlett, N.Y.) and sophomore forward Jermaine Fraser (Valley Stream, N.Y.) but the Knights (4-8, 4-3 Skyline) would quickly counter as they used a 12-4 run to take a four-point lead with 13:18 remaining in the first half.
After FSC junior guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) knocked down a 3 to cut the deficit to just one, 12-11, Mount Saint Mary senior guard Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) hit a layup to bring the advantage back to three.
Still trailing by three, 20-17, with 2:55 left in the first half, the Rams used a Liam Monaghan (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) 3-pointer and four points by junior forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) to take a four-point lead heading into the halftime break, 24-20.
The Rams started quickly in the second half as they scored the first 11 points to take a 15-point advantage, 35-20.
Down 41-25 with 11:42 remaining, three straight Mount Saint Mary layups allowed the Knights to close within just 10. After Riefenstahl knocked down a jumper, a 3-pointer by Knights freshman guard Isaiah Robinson (Garfield, N.J.) cut the deficit to only nine, 43-34, with 7:46 left.
On the ensuing possession, Riefenstahl was fouled and hit 1-of-2 at the line before Graham connected on a 3 to bring the FSC lead to 47-34.
Farmingdale State held at least a 12-point advantage down the stretch as they earned the 60-45 conference victory.
Graham led all scorers with 16 points, while Riefenstahl tallied 15 points, a season-high 20 rebounds and a game-high three blocks. Fraser finished with 11 rebounds and eight points on 4-for-5 shooting, while sophomore guard Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) totaled seven points and six assists in the win.
For the Knights, senior guard Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) scored a team-high 13 points.
The Rams next host Skyline Conference opponent Purchase College on Wednesday, January 10th at 7:00 p.m.
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