Farmingdale State - 87, Old Westbury - 79 (OT)
Farmingdale, N.Y. - In a Skyline Conference men's basketball game this afternoon, Farmingdale State hosted Old Westbury and won in overtime, 87-79. FSC senior forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) hit a 3-pointer with one second left in regulation to send the game into overtime and the Rams outscored the Panthers 14-6 in the OT period to improve to 11-7 overall and 9-4 in the conference.
Trailing by one, 9-8, just 5:11 into the contest, FSC used a 7-0 run to go in front 15-9. Riefenstahl tallied a layup and a free-throw before back-to-back jumpers from senior guards Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) put Farmingdale State up by six.
Old Westbury (10-8, 8-5 Skyline) would quickly answer with a 7-0 run of their own to regain a one-point edge with 11:51 left in the first half.
Over the next 3:35, the Panthers increased their lead to 10, 25-15, as junior guard Justin Alleyne-Washington (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) registered nine straight points.
Farmingdale State was down 29-22 with 3:26 left in the half, but used a 10-0 run, capped off by a Jermaine Fraser (Valley Stream, N.Y.) layup, to take a 32-29 advantage.
Over the final 1:41, OW outscored FSC 5-2 as the game went into the halftime break tied at 34-34.
Old Westbury led by one, 50-49, midway through the second half, and extended their advantage to six with three points from senior forward Alan McDonald (Hempstead, N.Y.) and a pair of free-throws from Alleyne-Washington. Following an FSC jumper, the Panthers used a 7-1 run to take a 62-52 lead with 5:39 remaining in regulation.
Farmingdale State would cut the deficit to five as Graham hit a 3 and both Mableton and Fraser tallied layups during a 7-2 run.
After Alleyne-Washington and Riefenstahl traded free-throws, McDonald made a jump shot to go up 68-61 with 1:39 left. On FSC's next two possessions, junior guard Ryan Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y.) recorded a 3-pointer and Mableton laid the ball in to close within two, 68-66.
With Old Westbury leading by one, 71-70, with just nine seconds remaining, junior guard Pedro Marquez (Bronx, N.Y.) went 2-for-2 at the free-throw line to go up by three. On their next trip down the court, Mableton setup Riefenstahl for the game-tying 3-pointer with just one second remaining to send the game into overtime.
On the first possession of OT, Mableton registered a layup and a free-throw to put Farmingdale State ahead by three. Riefenstahl tallied the game's next basket to give FSC a 78-73 advantage with 2:49 left.
After an Old Westbury 3-pointer cut the deficit to two, Rams' junior guard Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) recorded five straight points to give Farmingdale State a seven-point lead, 83-76.
FSC went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line the rest of the way as they earned the conference victory, 87-79.
The Rams had six double-digit scorers led by Mableton's team-high 17 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds. Graham and Kennedy produced 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Riefenstahl recorded 12 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks. Platt, who scored seven points in the OT period, finished with 11 points and Fraser shot 4-for-5 from the floor for 10 points.
Alleyne-Washington registered a game-high 21 points and five steals to go along with 13 rebounds for the Panthers. McDonald tallied 17 points and nine rebounds, while Marquez had 14 points in the loss.
Farmingdale State next travels to Maritime for a Skyline game on Tuesday, January 29th at 7:00 p.m.
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