St. Joseph's - 75, Farmingdale State - 70
Patchogue, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team lost their second Skyline Conference game of the season as they fell, 75-70, at St. Joseph's last night. The Rams now stand at 14-5 overall and 10-2 in the conference with both losses coming to St. Joe's.
Farmingdale State jumped out to an early 15-4 lead, before the Golden Eagles (16-2, 12-0) answered with an 11-2 run to cut the deficit to 17-15. Trailing 24-21 with 9:26 remaining in the half, junior forward AJ Matthews (Brooklyn, N.Y.) made back-to-back layups for the Rams to regain the lead 25-24. St. Joe's held a 36-33 advantage late in the half until a 3-pointer by junior guard Ryan Davis (Flushing, N.Y.) and a Dyshaun Flournoy (Brentwood, N.Y.) free-throw put Farmingdale State ahead 37-36 at the break. The Golden Eagles hit seven shots from behind the arc in the first half.
Tied 58-58 with 6:17 remaining, senior center Shahab Syed (Huntington, N.Y.) converted a layup and hit a 3-pointer to put St. Joe's on top 63-58. A 3-pointer from Flournoy and a layup by senior guard Joshua Smith (Deer Park, N.Y.), cut the deficit to three, 67-64, with 3:16 to play. After a missed 3 by the Golden Eagles, freshman forward Ibrahim Johnson (New York, N.Y.) made a layup after being setup by Smith to cut the St. Joe's lead to 67-66. The teams traded layups and a pair of free-throws before the Rams were forced to foul with 23 seconds remaining on the clock. St. Joe's Olivier Laurent (Amityville, N.Y.) hit both at the line and the Rams missed a game-tying 3-point attempt with 14 seconds to play as the Golden Eagles held on for the 75-70 victory.
The Rams were led by Smith who had a game-high 25 points to go along with eight rebounds. Matthews picked up double-double with 18 points and 20 boards while blocking seven shots for Farmingdale State.
Syed was 7-for-9 from the field for a team-high 17 points, while Laurent added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Eagles.
The Rams next will host Mount Saint Vincent in a Skyline Conference game on Saturday, February 4th at 3:00 p.m.
*****