Farmingdale State - 90, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn - 64
Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team cruised to a 90-64 conference win over St. Joseph's-Brooklyn this afternoon on senior day. With the win, the Rams improved 14-4 in Skyline play and have clinched a First Round bye for the playoffs.
Prior to tip-off, FSC seniors Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.), Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) and George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) were each honored for senior day.
Farmingdale State (16-7) started quickly as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead just 2:57 in on a pair of layups each from Mableton and junior forward Jermaine Fraser (Valley Stream, N.Y.). The Bears (9-15, 7-12 Skyline) responded with an 8-2 run over the next 1:45 to close within two, 10-8.
Leading 12-8, FSC used back-to-back layups from Riefenstahl and Graham to go up by eight, but St. Joe's-Brooklyn again answered with a jumper from junior forward Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y.) and a 3 by sophomore guard Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y.) to cut the deficit to three, 16-13.
Still leading by three, 18-15, with 11 minutes remaining in the half, the Rams went on a 10-0 run to open up a 28-15 advantage. After Bears' Sebastian Etheart (Hollis, N.Y.) knocked down a 3-pointer, Farmingdale State used a jumper from Mableton, a layup by junior guard Kyle Beeson (South Jamaica, N.Y.) and a 3-pointer from Graham to take a 35-18 lead.
Over the final 5:16 of the half, St. Joe's-Brooklyn outscored FSC 12-6 and entered the break trailing, 41-30.
After Meiner opened the second half with four straight points to cut the deficit to seven, Riefenstahl and Graham tallied baskets before junior forward Troy Feeney (Hewlett, N.Y.) knocked down a pair of free-throws to put FSC ahead 47-34.
Farmingdale State led 53-39 with 15 minutes left and used a 6-0 run, capped off by a Chaz Platt (Jamaica, N.Y.) steal and layup, to go in front, 59-39.
Leading 66-46 with 9:37 remaining, the Rams went on a 10-3 run over the next 2:15, including 3's from sophomore guard Joseph Santoro (Levittown, N.Y.) and Platt, to take a commanding 27-point advantage, 76-49.
The Rams led by as many as 28 down the stretch as they earned the 90-64 victory.
Graham shot 6-for-9 from the field and recorded a game-high 15 points, while Riefenstahl had 14 points and eight rebounds. Mableton finished with eight points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals in just 19 minutes played. Beeson tallied 11 points and four rebounds, Fraser shot 4-of-5 for eight points, and freshman guard Anthorn Garrett Jr. (Oceanside, N.Y.) registered a season-high eight points. Platt added nine points, while Feeney pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds in the win.
Farmingdale State next hosts Mount Saint Vincent for a Skyline Conference game on Tuesday, February 12th at 8:00 p.m. on Breast Cancer Awareness Night.
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