Farmingdale State – 61, Purchase College – 58
Farmingdale, N.Y. – The Farmingdale State men's basketball team defeated Purchase College today with a 61-58 conference victory in Farmingdale, N.Y. With the win, the Rams improved to 12-4 overall, 8-1 in Skyline play. The Panthers dropped to 7-9, 5-4 with the loss.
With 10 lead changes in the first half and neither team leading by more than four points, Farmingdale State ended the half with two fast break layups by senior guard Joshua Smith (Deer Park, N.Y.) and led 30-26 at the halftime break. Smith posted 11 points in the first for the Rams, while junior forward AJ Matthews (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had five blocks.
In the second, Farmingdale led by as much as six up until 5:06 when Purchase tied the game on a layup by junior forward Justin Person (Greenburgh, N.Y.). Junior guard William Williams (Bronx, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer at 3:39 to give the Panthers the lead 55-52 and another layup would give them a five-point cushion, 57-52 with under two minutes remaining.
Matthews was fouled on the next possession and sank both to cut the Rams deficit to three, 57-54, with 1:32 left. Matthews made a big block on Purchase's freshman center Joel Neri (Port Chester, N.Y.) to save a basket and Smith took the ball down for a layup and the foul, the Rams trailed by one 57-56. Smith then tied the game by completing his three-point play, 57-57.
Purchase junior guard John Pressley (New York, N.Y.) was fouled and hit one of two to give his team the 58-57 lead. After another timeout, Smith was fouled and sank both to give Farmingdale the one-point lead, 59-58, with four seconds on the clock. He then stole the ball with two seconds left and made another layup with 0.1 on the clock as the Rams took the 61-58 victory.
The leading scorer for Farmingdale State was Smith with a game-high 27 points, while Matthews finished with 19 points, 14 rebounds and seven blocks.
For Purchase, Pressley led with 19 points. Person finished with eight points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
The Rams will travel next to face Old Westbury on Wednesday, January 25th at 8:00 p.m. in another conference match-up.
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