Wesleyan - 85, Farmingdale State - 71
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Wesleyan sophomore guards Austin Hutcherson (New York, N.Y.) and Antone Walker (Philadelphia, Penn.) scored 25 and 24 points, respectively, as the Cardinals earned an 85-71 victory over Farmingdale State in their home opener this evening. After tonight's loss, the FSC men's basketball team now stands at 3-2 on the year.
A George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) jumper with 12:55 on the clock pulled the Rams within two, 14-12, but Wesleyan (3-2) answered with a 14-2 run which saw four 3's to open up a 28-14 advantage. Farmingdale State responded with a pair of Joseph Santoro (Levittown, N.Y.) free-throws and an Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) 3-pointer and layup on their next three possessions to cut the deficit in half with 6:45 remaining in the first.
FSC closed within six with just under five minutes left on the clock before three straight Wesleyan 3's extended their lead to 15 at 39-24. The Rams headed into the break down 44-32 after the Cardinals shot 40% (10-of-25) from behind the arc in the half.
In the second half, Wesleyan used a 3 by Walker to open up their largest lead of the game (58-39) with 14:30 remaining but Farmingdale State quickly answered with nine straight points capped off by a Santoro layup to pull within 10.
With 8:29 left to play and the Cardinals on top 69-57, FSC used layups by Riefenstahl, junior guard Ryan Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y.) and senior guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) over the next 1:36 to cut the Wesleyan lead in half.
Trailing by eight with 4:01 on the clock, Kennedy connected on a 3-pointer and after a steal on Wesleyan's next possession, hit 1-of-2 at the line to pull the Rams within four, 73-69. The Cardinals outscored FSC 12-2 and their defense held the Rams without a field goal the remainder of the game as they earned the 85-71 non-conference victory.
Mableton finished with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and five rebounds, while Kennedy scored 15 points, had six boards and a team-high four assists. Junior guard Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) added 10 points for Farmingdale State in the loss.
Hutcherson tallied his game-high 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting, while Walker shot 7-of-15 from the floor en route to his 24 points. Senior guard Jordan Bonner (Houston, Texas) had a double-double on 18 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to go along with a game-high five assists for Wesleyan.
Riefenstahl (982 points) and Graham (979 points) are each approaching the 1,000 career point mark as Farmingdale State next will host Maritime in a conference game on Saturday, December 1st at noon. There have been five players in FSC history to reach the 1,000-point scoring mark.
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