Farmingdale State 75, No. 11 Wesleyan 73
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. | The Farmingdale State College men's basketball team converted 18 turnovers by 11th-ranked Wesleyan University into 26 points on Saturday afternoon, as the host Rams made a last-second defensive stand to capture a 75-73 victory over the Cardinals.
The win was the first for FSC (5-1) over a nationally ranked opponent since it defeated Wesleyan (3-2) on the road on Nov. 26, 2022.
Junior forward
Liam Buckley (Manhasset, N.Y.) scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first half for the Rams, while shooting 4-of-7 from 3-point range. Senior guard
Robbie Siechen (Syracuse, N.Y.) scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, while
Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y.) added 12 second-half points while dishing out a team-high six assists. Senior guard
Michael Notias (Manhasset, N.Y.) chipped in with nine points and three assists in the Farmingdale State backcourt, while sophomore swingman
Jordan Tucker (Elmont, N.Y.; game-high-tying eight rebounds) and freshman post
Dylon Stanley (Lynbrook, N.Y.; seven rebounds, three blocked shots) scored eight points apiece.
Buckley's jumper at the 14:39 mark gave FSC its first lead of the game, 10-9, in a first half that saw the lead change hands six times. The Rams later went ahead 30-28 with 1:12 remaining, as Tucker made a driving layup and Buckley dropped in a 3-pointer in consecutive possessions. A pair of free throws, followed by a floating jumper from the left baseline in the final three seconds, gave Wesleyan a 32-30 edge at the break.
The Cardinals scored the first 10 points of the second frame in a 3:30 span, before the hosts responded with a 15-2 run – capped by a trifecta by Conroy off a pass from Siechen with 11:59 remaining – to go back in front 45-44. After the teams continued to trade the lead over the next several minutes, FSC used a 7-0 run over a 48-second stretch to move ahead 70-65 on Siechen's conventional 3-point play with 2:35 left.
Wesleyan closed to within a 70-68 margin on its own old-fashioned 3-point play on its next possession, before Siechen netted a pair from the free-throw line and Conroy made a layup on an offensive rebound to up Farmingdale State's edge to its largest of the afternoon, 74-68, with 1:20 on the clock. The Cardinals pulled to within the final 75-73 margin on a driving layup in the last 16 seconds, before missing a lay-in in the last second of play. The visitors had an opportunity to inbound from underneath their offensive basket with 0.3 seconds on the scoreboard, before the ensuing pass was tipped away by Buckley to clinch the game.
Farmingdale State is back in action on the road Wednesday night (Dec. 3), when they travel to SUNY New Paltz for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
