Rams Knock Off Old Westbury in Semifinals

#1 Farmingdale State - 73, #4 Old Westbury - 59

Farmingdale, N.Y. - Farmingdale State defeated Old Westbury, 73-59, in tonight's Skyline Semifinal men's basketball game. The Rams will host #2 St. Joseph's for the Championship on Saturday, February 28th at 7:00pm. Farmingdale has won 20 straight games and now stands at 24-2 overall, while Old Westbury falls to 12-15.

In the first half, Old Westbury was on the board first and the lead changed three times. At the 11:22 mark, senior guard Damien Santana (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grady) hit a three-pointer, and sent the Rams on a 10-0 run over the next six minutes to take a 26-14 lead with 4:36 left on the clock. Old Westbury took backthe momentum with a 10-4 run, but still trailed by six at the break.

With the scoreboard showing 30-24, the Rams held on throughout the second. The Panthers cut the lead to one point twice, but could not keep it going as Farmingdale shot 48-percent and scored 30 points in the paint, and now advance to the Championship game on Saturday night.

Rams junior forward Mike Campbell (Bronx, N.Y./Samuel Gompers) tallied game-highs of 22 points and 20 rebounds, while Santana scored 20 points, grabbed eight rebounds and had four assists. Senior forward Erastus Shannon (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) finished with 16 points. Senior forward Davon Jackson (New York, N.Y./Rice) finished with seven rebounds, while junior guard Terrence Howard (Queens, N.Y./Cardozo) dished off four assists in his 10 minutes played.

For Old Westbury, junior guard Bill Reese (Selma, Ala./Hillcrest) scored 17 points, while sophomore center Lester Prosper (Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) grabbed 17 rebounds. Junior guard Shane DeNully (Bronx, N.Y./Our Saviour Lutheran) finished with 15 points in defeat.

Farmingdale State now hosts St. Joseph's, who defeated Maritime 84-71 to advance to the Finals, on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.

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