NEWBURGH, N.Y. – Despite another sparkling effort from freshman Joe Stabach (Staten Island, N.Y.), the Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team dropped a well-played Skyline Conference game to Farmingdale State College, 85-76, on Saturday afternoon. The Knights fell to 8-5 overall (6-2 Skyline), while the Rams bumped up to 7-5 overall (6-1).

With his team trailing by 11 points near the midpoint of the second half, Stabach took over. The freshman drained five consecutive three-pointers in a span of less than four minutes, leading a 15-5 run to pull the Knights to within a point (67-66) with 7:17 remaining.

Farmingdale senior John Dabney (Freeport, N.Y.) answered with a pair of free throws, and after Mount Saint Mary junior Kevin Milella (Floral Park, N.Y.) scored at the other end, Dabney banked home a layup to extend the lead back to three. After exchanging turnovers, Stabach found Milella on a curl play and Milella laid it in to cut it back to one (71-70) with 5:07 to play.

The Mount couldn't find a way to stop the Rams, however, as senior Keith Nandin (Queens, N.Y.) drained a triple on the ensuing possession. Still leading by three with 3:21 to play, Farmingdale escaped with a mini 5-0 run and Nandin's jumper with 1:14 remaining sent the Rams to an eight-point advantage. The Knights moved to within six on a pair of free throws from freshman Donte Howell (Baldwin, N.Y.), but Farmingdale took care of their free throws down the stretch and escaped with a nine-point win.

Stabach finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. The freshman connected on 5-of-6 three-pointers in the second half to finish at 6-for-9 for the contest. Milella scored 10 second-half points and finished with 12, while junior Carlos Valdez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) played one of his best games of the season in tallying nine points, 10 rebounds, and three assists.

Junior Dyshaun Flournoy (Brentwood, N.Y.) led the Rams with 20 points on 4-of-6 from downtown. Junior Josh Smith (Deer Park, N.Y.) added 19 points, while Nandin and Dabney each chipped in with 14. Senior Jermaine Abraham (Brooklyn, N.Y.) completed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Both teams turned in a strong shooting performance. The Knights shot 45.8-percent from the field and connected on 11-of-26 from three (42.3-percent). The Rams made 11-of-24 (45.8-percent) from long range and finished at 44.9-percent from the floor. Farmingdale held a 43-35 advantage on the glass and nabbed 16 offensive rebounds to the Mount's 10.

After three games in a week, the Knights will receive some much-needed time off before a road trip to Sage next Wednesday. The tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on January 12 in Troy, New York.