Farmingdale State - 79, #6 Yeshiva - 75
New York, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team traveled to the Max Stern Center in New York, N.Y. and defeated #6 Yeshiva 79-75 on Saturday night. The Rams dealt the Maccabees their first Skyline Conference loss of the season.
Yeshiva (18-2, 11-1) entered the evening with their last loss against a conference team coming on February 4th, 2019 when Farmingdale State defeated the Maccabees 81-75 in the Skyline Championship game.
Leading 41-34 at the start of the second half, FSC (14-7, 10-2) opened with a pair of free-throws and a 3-pointer by senior forward Dominique Senat (Elmont, N.Y.) to go out in front by 12. YU quickly answered with a 7-0 run, capped off by an Eitan Halpert (Los Angeles, Calif.) 3, to cut the deficit to 46-41 with 17:40 on the clock. The Rams responded with baskets on their next three trips down the floor to go back on top by double-digits, 54-41.
With 12:57 remaining and Farmingdale State leading 56-46, a 3-pointer by sophomore guard Zamere McKenzie (Beacon, N.Y.) and a layup from sophomore guard Aaron Davis (Valley Stream, N.Y.) gave the Rams a 15-point advantage.
After FSC opened up their largest lead of the game at 16 points midway though the second half, Yeshiva answered with a 14-2 run, which saw four 3-pointers, to cut the deficit to 69-65. A Davis 3 on the next FSC possession off the pass from sophomore guard Nick Hurowitz (Mount Sinai, N.Y.), put the Rams up 72-67 with 3:57 left to play.
The Maccabees still trailed by seven with just over three minutes remaining and used an 8-0 run - capped off by back-to-back Gabriel Leifer (Lawrence, N.Y.) baskets - to take their first lead of the game since the opening minute at 75-74.
On the next Farmingdale State possession, Hurowitz put the Rams back in front 76-75 with a layup. After a Leifer missed 3 and an FSC defensive rebound, Davis was fouled and hit 1-of-2 at the line to put the Rams ahead 77-75 with 25 seconds left to play.
The Maccabees held for the final shot of the game and the FSC defense forced a missed fadeaway jumper by senior guard Ryan Turell (Los Angeles, Calif.) to seal the road victory. Hurowitz, who secured the rebound on Turrell's missed shot, was fouled as time expired and hit both free-throws for the 79-75 win.
Hurowitz registered a team-high 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while Davis had 14 points (5-for-6 shooting) and tied his career-high with five assists. Senat scored 13 points and had six boards and freshman guard Jevon Santos (Elmont, N.Y.) had 10 points, five rebounds and a team-leading six assists.
The Maccabees were led by Turell's game-high 21 points, while Leifer had 15 points, eight assists, six rebounds, three steals and three blocks in the loss.
Yeshiva had entered the night winning 54 of their last 55 games.
FSC next will travel to St. Joseph's-Long Island for a Skyline Conference matchup on Wednesday, February 9th at 7:00 p.m.
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