Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)
Patchogue, NY| Despite a late-game push, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team suffered a 67-65 defeat to Skyline Conference rival Farmingdale State inside the Danzi Center on Tuesday evening. With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 5-9 (4-5 Skyline) on the season, while the Rams improve to 6-8 (6-3 Skyline).
After falling behind 7-5 in the first five minutes, St. Joseph's rallied to score 14 of the next 20 points to pull ahead 19-13 at 10:23. With 6:59 to play in the half, a three-pointer by junior Andy Laurent put the Golden Eagles up seven points (26-19), but it was a 14-3 run by the Rams that ensured the guests took a 33-29 lead into the break.
Farmingdale carried its momentum into the second half, scoring seven of the half's first 10 points to go ahead 40-32 at 16:24. The two sides would go point-for-point over the next seven minutes, with the Golden Eagles coming as close as three points to tying the game. Farmingdale's Liam Monaghan would put the Rams up 56-49 with a tip in at 9:51, but 12-4 run by St. Joseph's fired the hosts into the lead (61-60) with 3:23 remaining.
A pair of Jarred Marrow free throws at 1:28 saw the Rams reestablish their three-point lead (64-61), but senior Dominique Spannresponded immediately with a layup to draw the game back to within one (64-63). After a Laurent foul with 22 seconds to play, Farmingdale's Trey Kinard went 1-2 from the charity stripe with Spann claiming the rebound following the second shot. Marrow would foul Laurent with nine seconds on the clock, and the guard would sink both attempts to tie the game at 65. With a chance to win it, Marrow drew a foul with three seconds remaining, and the guard converted on both attempts to lift the Rams to the 67-65 victory.
Laurent tallied a game-high 18 points for the Golden Eagles in addition to grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out four assists. Sophomore Isaiah Moore recorded his second double-double in as many games with a 13 point/11 rebound effort. Junior Fernando Vazquez shot a perfect 5-5 from the field and 3-3 from the free throw line to record 15 points.
Despite being narrowly outshot by the Rams from the field (40.7%-40.4%), St. Joseph's blanked Farmingdale from beyond the arc (0-14) in the game. The Rams would, though, hold advantages in points in the paint (32-20) and bench points (19-5).
The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, January 16 when they travel to Newburg, NY to face Mount Saint Mary College at 3:00 PM. Live stats will be available here on sjcgoldeneagles.com.