St. Joseph's-LI - 71, Farmingdale State - 62

Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team closed out the regular season with a 71-62 loss to Joseph's-LI this afternoon on Senior Day. The Rams finished with a 14-2 mark in the Skyline Conference and will await their seed for the playoffs.

Prior to the game, FSC team captain Weldon Irvine* (Queens, N.Y.) was honored for Senior Day. Irvine played four seasons at Farmingdale State and averaged 6.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. He will leave FSC ranked third all-time in rebounding, sixth for blocked shots and 11th in points scored.

Tied 7-7 in the opening minutes, the Rams (18-7, 14-2) used back-to-back jumpers from Trey Kinard (Deer Park, N.Y.) and George Riefenstahl (Bayport, N.Y.) to take a four-point advantage. St. Joe's-LI (10-15, 9-7) quickly responded with a 7-0 run to regain the lead, 14-11.

Trailing 21-16 with 8:43 remaining in the first half, FSC scored seven unanswered points to go back ahead, 23-21.

After a Frank Basile (Islip, N.Y.) jumper with 1:59 on the clock tied the game at 27-27, the Golden Eagles followed with an Isaiah Moore (North Babylon, N.Y.) 3 and a jump shot by Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y.) to go on top, 32-27. St. Joe's-LI took a 32-28 advantage into halftime.

Riefenstahl and junior guard Liam Monaghan (Rockaway Beach, N.Y.) each had nine first half points for FSC, while Basile scored 12 points for St. Joe's-LI.

After the Golden Eagles opened up a 39-30 advantage with 15:09 remaining, Riefenstahl and sophomore guard Ali Mableton (Brentwood, N.Y.) answered with four points apiece to cut the FSC deficit to one.

With 5:58 left to play at SJC-LI leading 53-49, freshman guard Joe Santoro (Levittown, N.Y.) hit a layup and senior guard Fernando Vazquez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) followed with a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 58-49.

After each team connected on 3's their next possession, FSC scored the next three points at the free-throw line to close within six, 61-55, with 2:59 on the clock.

Trailing 66-57 with 1:05 remaining, sophomore guard Matthew Graham (Valley Stream, N.Y.) hit a 3 for the Rams but the Golden Eagles outscored FSC 5-2 the remainder of the way en route to the 71-62 victory.

Riefenstahl recorded a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds to go along with a game-high five blocks, while Monaghan scored 16 points. Mableton added 10 points and three steals in the loss for Farmingdale State.

Laurent tallied 15 points, nine boards and seven assists, while Basile finished with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting for St. Joe's-LI.

FSC will await the results of tonight's (8:30 p.m.) Old Westbury (13-2)/Yeshiva (10-5) game to determine their playoff seeding.