Farmingdale State - 82, Merchant Marine - 64
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team recorded their fifth straight win with an 82-64 home victory over Merchant Marine this evening. The Rams improved to 10-4 overall and 8-2 in the Skyline, while the Mariners now stand at 6-8, 4-6.
After falling behind 4-2 in the opening minute, FSC responded with a 13-0 run, which saw 3's from Troy Feeney (Hewlett, N.Y.), Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Liam Monaghan (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) to go out in front 15-4.
With 11:36 left to play in the first half and Farmingdale State leading 18-9, the Rams went on a 14-0 run over the next 5:02 extend the advantage to 23. The Mariners cut the deficit to 15 points, 41-26, at the halftime break as Feeney led the way for FSC with 11 points after shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. Freshman guard James Walsh (Huntington, N.Y.) tallied 12 points (5-for-9) in the first half for Merchant Marine.
The Rams opened the second half with a pair of Graham 3-pointers and a layup from junior forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) to quickly increase the lead to 49-26. After a 3 by Walsh pulled the Mariners to within 22 at 56-36 with 15:22 remaining, FSC answered with a Graham 3 and Monaghan layup to go up by 27.
Leading 69-47, the Rams used an 8-0 run to open up their largest lead of the game at 77-47 with 6:05 on the clock. Farmingdale State held a 25-point advantage with 1:31 remaining and allowed the games final seven points as they earned the 82-64 victory.
Graham tallied a team-high 12 points, while Feeney added 11 points and seven rebounds. Monaghan pitched in with 10 points and Riefenstahl scored 10 (5-for-6 shooting) to go along with a career-high four assists.
Merchant Marine was led by Walsh's game-high 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including five 3-pointers.
The Rams next will travel to Riverdale, N.Y. to play Mount Saint Vincent in a conference game on Thursday, January 18th at 7:00 p.m.
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