#23 Rochester - 85, Farmingdale State - 68
Rochester, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team traveled to #23 Rochester this evening for the First Round of the NCAA Division III Tournament and fell, 85-68. The Yellowjackets shot 16-for-27 on 3-point field goals in the win. The Rams end their season 20-8 overall, while Rochester (21-5) has advanced to the Second Round of the tournament and will play host to #7 Amherst tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
Trailing 11-2 in the early going, FSC would use a 10-2 run, including four points from senior guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.), to cut their deficit to just one at 13-12. The Yellowjackets quickly answered with a 3-pointer by senior guard Alexander Gamble (Silver Spring, Md.) on their next possession to take a four-point advantage.
Down 27-21 with nine minutes left in the first half, Farmingdale State used two Mableton free-throws and back-to-back 3's from junior guard Ryan Kennedy (Maspeth, N.Y.) and senior forward George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) to take their first lead of the game, 29-27.
The Yellowjackets responded with a 16-1 run over the next 4:01 to open up a 43-30 advantage. Rochester knocked down four 3's during the run.
Trailing 46-33 with 44 seconds remaining, FSC junior guard Anthony Miller Jr. (Yonkers, N.Y.) hit a pair of free-throws before senior guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) connected on a 3-pointer with four seconds on the clock to cut the Farmingdale State deficit to eight, 46-38, heading into the break.
Rochester was 9-for-11 (81.8%) on 3-pointers in the first half.
Leading by seven, 49-42, just 1:18 into the second half, the Yellowjackets used a layup by senior guard Brendan O'Shea (Burlington, Vt.) and a pair of 3's from junior forward Patrick Benka (Palatine, Ill.) to extend their advantage to 57-42.
After a 10-4 run allowed Farmingdale State to close within nine, 61-52, a trio of 3's put Rochester ahead, 70-52, with 10:29 left to play.
Over the next 4:37, the Yellowjackets used a 10-1 run to increase their advantage to 80-53.
Despite being outscored 15-5 the rest of the way, Rochester held on for the First Round victory, 85-68.
Graham led the way for FSC with a game-high 20 points (7-12 FG), to go along with four rebounds. Mableton finished with nine points, while Riefenstahl had eight points, six rebounds and a game-high three blocks. Junior guard Troy Feeney (Hewlett, N.Y.) tallied eight points and eight rebounds off the bench in the loss.
The balanced Yellowjackets offense had four players score in double-digits. Senior guard Ryan Clamage (Lake Forest, Ill.) recorded a team-high 19 points (3-3 3PT FG), 10 rebounds and seven assists, Benka tallied 18 points (6-8 3PT FG) and O'Shea registered 16 points (2-4 3PT FG), four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Senior forward Andrew Lundstrom (St. David's, Penn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 14 points (3-4 3PT FG), to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
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