Farmingdale State 80, St. Joseph's-L.I. 71
PATCHOGUE, N.Y. | Sophomore forward
Kentrell Evans (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 12 of his career-high 18 points in the second half to lead the Farmingdale State College men's basketball team to an 80-71 victory over Skyline Conference foe St. Joseph's University-Long Island on Wednesday night.
The visiting Rams (5-7, 2-1 Skyline) forced 20 turnovers by the Golden Eagles (2-10, 1-2), converting their miscues into 22 points, while FSC gave the ball away just six times – a season-best mark and the second-consecutive game in single digits.Â
Both teams exchanged the lead over the first four minutes of action, before Farmingdale State embarked on a 10-2 run to move ahead by a 19-10 score on senior forward
Hamdel Mohammed's (Bronx, N.Y.) put-back layup with 11:50 to go. The upperclassman converted a 3-point play earlier in the spread, while junior guard
Robbie Siechen (Syracuse, N.Y.) knocked down a 3-pointer off one of classmate
Michael Notias's (Manhasset, N.Y.) career-high eight assists on the evening. St. Joseph's closed to within a 21-19 count more than three minutes later, before Notias (five points, three steals) and senior point guard
Jevon Santos (Elmont, N.Y.) buried back-to-back trifectas to restore the Rams' momentum on their way to a 40-34 halftime lead.
The Golden Eagles come out of the break hot, closing their gap to 42-41 just 2:29 into the resumption of play. From there, FSC registered the next seven points as part of an 11-2 spurt. Notias picked up three assists during the run, including a dunk by Evans at the 15:04 mark, before feeding Santos on a fast-break lay-in to cap the spurt with the visitors in front, 53-43, with 13:38 remaining. St. Joseph's got as close as a 68-62 margin with 4:45 on the clock, before the Rams scored six of the next nine points in staying ahead. On back-to-back steals, Evans dunked home a pass from Notias at 3:12, before junior guard
Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y.) went underneath his defender for a left-side layup following a steal by Mohammed the next time down the court. Notias hit a clutch pull-up jump shot on the right wing with 2:03 to play after the hosts connected on a 3-pointer, and Conroy went 4-of-4 at the free-throw line down the stretch to ice the victory.
Conroy scored 15 points for the second-straight outing to go with a season-high six assists, while Santos scored 12 and led all players with four steals. Evans shot 8-of-10 from the field and finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while sophomore
Liam Buckley (Manhasset, N.Y.) and Mohammed (three steals) scored eight and seven points, respectively. FSC's 24 assists on 32 field goals were a season-best, while it also shot a perfect 9-of-9 at the charity stripe – the second-best mark in school history (10-of-10, vs. Mount Saint Mary, Feb. 6, 2016).
Skyline Conference play continues for Farmingdale State on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 11), when it plays host to SUNY Old Westbury at 2. Prior to the contest, at 11:45 a.m., the Rams will conduct its seventh annual CYO Day at Nold Hall.
