Rams Fall in Season Opener at Ramapo
Rams Fall in Season Opener at Ramapo
Ramapo College - 80, Farmingdale State - 70
Mahwah, N.J. - The Farmingdale State men's basketball team opened their season last night at Ramapo College (3-0). Despite controlling the pace of the game in the first half, the Rams (0-1) trailed at the half to the Roadrunners, 30-40, but could not catch up after the break, falling 80-70.
In the first half, each team pushed ahead by only four points
over the first 18 minutes of play. Junior guard Mike Campbell
(Bronx, N.Y./Samuel Gompers) put away six baskets for Farmingdale
State, sinking 14 total points. Ramapo shot 16-41 (39%) behind the
Rams, 13-31 (42%) from the field.
At the start of the second, Farmingdale pulled within five at
18:07 after senior guard Damien Santana (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grady) sank
a jumper. They moved just three points behind just under two
minutes later when Santana hit a shot from behind the three-point
arc, 41-44. The teams traded baskets over the next minute until two
three-pointers and a few free throws gave Ramapo a 12-point
advantage with 11:55 to play. Ramapo held a double-digit lead until
the 2:37 minute mark when Rams senior forward Davon Jackson (New
York, N.Y./Rice) sank a three-pointer to get his team within eight,
66-74. The Roadrunners put together a 6-0 run to go up 14 with 35
seconds to play, and held on until the buzzer to grab the ten point
win. The Roadrunners went 11-26 (42%), while Farmingdale netted 40
second half points sinking 17 baskets on 36 attempts (47%). Santana
posted 16 points in the second.
Campbell finished the game with a team-leading 24 points, while Santana totaled 20 points and four steals. Senior forward Erastus Shannon (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) had 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Rams will now travel to Albright College this weekend for the Wyndham Reading Tip-Off Tournament in Reading, Pennsylvania. Farmingdale will face Montclair State on Friday, November 21st at 6:00 p.m., and will play on Saturday against the winner of John Jay/Albright at either 6:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m.
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