Farmingdale State - 95, St. Joseph's-Long Island - 80
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Farmingdale State senior forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) entered tonight's game versus St. Joseph's-Long Island one block shy of tying the school record and recorded a season-high five for 175 career blocked shots. In the 95-80 victory, Riefenstahl surpassed AJ Matthews (171 blocks) who had held the record since 2013.
Trailing 17-15 with 10:01 remaining in the first half, FSC's (15-7, 13-4 Skyline) Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) connected on back-to-back 3's both off passes by Joseph Santoro (Levittown, N.Y.) to give the Rams a four-point edge, 21-17. The Rams followed with layups by junior forward Troy Feeney (Hewlett, N.Y.) and Santoro to extend the lead to 25-17 with 7:24 on the clock.
With less than two minutes left play in the half and Farmingdale State up by five, a pair of Riefenstahl free-throws and a layup on the next two Rams' possessions increased the advantage to nine. SJC-LI (5-17, 4-13) closed the first with a tip-in by junior guard Frank Basile (Islip, N.Y.) as FSC went into the break on top, 37-30. Riefenstahl led all scorers in the first half with 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks, while senior guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) added nine points (4-of-6 FG).
Leading 45-38 early in the second half, the Rams used a Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) 3-pointer and layup by Feeney to extend the advantage to 12, 50-38. After a Riefenstahl dunk off the feed by Platt gave Farmingdale State a 55-43 advantage with 14:04 remaining, a pair of Gino Basile (Islip, N.Y.) free-throws on the next two Golden Eagles possessions pulled St. Joe's-LI within eight at 55-47.
With 10:39 left to play and FSC on top 59-52, 3-pointers by junior guard Anthony Miller Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y.) and Graham put the Rams in front by 13. SJC-LI quickly answered with an 8-0 run, capped off by a Mike Harris (Holbrook, N.Y.) 3 over the next 1:54, to close within five, 65-60.
Farmingdale State led 70-64 with 6:38 remaining and tallied a Riefenstahl dunk followed by a 3 from junior guard Kyle Beeson (South Jamaica, N.Y.) to go up by 11. The Rams led by at least eight points the remainder of the game en route to the 95-80 Skyline Conference win.
Mableton scored a game-high 21 points after shooting 75-percent from the field (9-for-12), while Riefenstahl recorded a double-double with 18 points (7-of-14 FG) and a game-high 12 boards to go along with five blocks and four assists. Rounding out the double-digit scorers for FSC was Graham with 12 and Feeney who had 11 points.
St. Joe's-LI was led by junior center Brad Weiss (Plainview, N.Y.) who scored 18 points, had seven rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
It was Greek Night in the Nold Athletic Complex and the Farmingdale State College fraternities and sororities including Phi Sigma Sigma, Sigma Delta Tau, Kappa Sigma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Alpha Phi Delta and Delta Phi Epsilon were each honored at center court before the game.
The Rams next will host St. Joseph's-Brooklyn for a Skyline game on Saturday, February 9th at 2:30 p.m. Prior to tip-off, Graham, Mableton and Riefenstahl will each be honored for Senior Day.
*****