Farmingdale State - 70, Mount Saint Mary - 63
Newburgh, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team traveled to Mount Saint Mary College on Saturday afternoon for a conference game and earned a 70-63 victory. The Rams improved to 14-7 overall and 12-4 in Skyline play and currently sit in second place in the conference standings.
Trailing 13-12 with 11:59 remaining in the first half, FSC used a Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) 3-pointer, a pair of layups by senior guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and one from Platt on their next four possessions to open up an eight-point advantage. After a Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y.) 3 and a free-throw from Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) cut the Knights (12-8, 9-6) deficit to 24-20, back-to-back jump shots by junior guard Anthony Miller Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y.) again brought the Rams lead to eight with 7:45 left to play.
With 4:01 remaining in the first and Farmingdale State on top 32-26, the Rams recorded four unanswered points on a Joseph Santoro (Levittown, N.Y.) jumper and two free-throws from senior guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) to increase the advantage to 10. FSC took a 10-point lead, 39-29, into the break as Mableton led the way with eight points on 3-of-4 shooting in the first half.
In the opening minutes of the second, MSMC's Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C) and Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) each connected on 3's as the Knights quickly cut the deficit to three, 40-37.
After a Jermaine Fraser (Valley Stream, N.Y.) layup with 14:23 on the clock gave the Rams a four-point edge, 45-41, the Knights answered with a 7-2 run over the next 2:53 to take their first lead since midway through the opening half, 48-47. Farmingdale State responded with three consecutive baskets by George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.), Graham and Platt to regain the advantage at 53-48 with 9:31 remaining.
The Rams led 56-52 and used a 7-0 run which started on a Graham 3-pointer to extend the lead to 63-52 with less than four minutes left to play.
FSC led by at least five points the remainder of the game as they earned the 70-63 Skyline Conference road win.
Graham scored a team-high 12 points and added a game-high four assists, while Mableton had 10 points. Frasier finished the day with eight points and seven boards and Riefenstahl tallied seven points, two blocks and a game-high eight rebounds. Riefenstahl now has 170 career blocks and is one away from tying the FSC school record held by AJ Matthews (2011-2013).
Mount Saint Mary was led by Sienke who poured in a game-high 17 points after shooting 7-of-10 from the field.
The Rams next return home to play Skyline opponent St. Joseph's-Long Island on Wednesday, February 6th at 8:00 p.m. on Greek Night.
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