Newburgh, N.Y. – After building a 14 point second half lead on Monday night, the Mount Saint Mary Men's Basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 67-66 Skyline Conference loss to visiting Farmingdale State. Sophomore Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) led a trio of Knights in double-figures with a team-high 12 points.
 
The Knights fell behind by as many as five points in the early going on Monday, but built a lead of seven points following a three-point play from freshman T.J. Patsalos (Newburgh, N.Y.) with 7:26 left before halftime.
 
The Mount matched that advantage three more times before spreading its lead to 33-23 on a Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) triple with 3:21 left in the first half. The Mount's lead grew to 12 points twice in the final 2:04 of the first period, before a Connor Nicholson (Staten Island, N.Y.) lay-in in the closing seconds of the stanza moved Mount Saint Mary in front 41-28 heading into halftime.
 
The Knights shot an efficient 53.3-percent from the floor in the opening period and went 7-for-13 from behind the three-point line in building the double-digit halftime lead. Nicholson and Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) led the offensive attack with eight points each.
 
Farmingdale State was held to 37.9-percent shooting in the opening period, going 0-for-9 from behind the arc. Eddie Kinloch paced the visitors with seven points on 3-for-5 shooting in the first half.
 
Patsalos gave Mount Saint Mary its largest lead of the night, a 14 point bulge, with just over 16 minutes left in regulation on a free-throw, but saw the Rams slice their disadvantage to four points following a 10-0 run keyed by a pair of three-pointers from Liam Monaghan.
 
Mount Saint Mary quickly spread its advantage back to nine points on a Nicholson triple and moved in front 56-46 with 10:54 left on a Stephen Steyer (Staten Island, N.Y.) free-throw.
 
The Knights had its lead dwindled down to a single point following a Anthony Lanieri conversion, but a three-pointer from Wolff spread the Mount Saint Mary lead back to four points, at 62-58, with just over five minutes left in the tilt.
 
Mount Saint Mary would maintain the lead until the 1:23 mark of the second half when Mathew Graham converted a lay-in to move the visitors in front 65-64. Wolff converted with just under a minute left to give the lead back to the Knights, but a Graham second chance bucket in the final half minute provided the final lead change of the night.
 
After knocking in seven triples before halftime, Mount Saint Mary was held to 3-for-15 shooting from behind the arc after the break, going just 10-for-28 from the floor overall in the second half. Farmingdale State went 4-for-7 from distance after the break and shot just shy of 54-percent from the field in the second half to earn the win.
 
Wolff rounded out the night shooting 5-for-11 from the floor, reaching double-figures for the seventh time this season. He added five rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots in the game. Nicholson came off the bench to score 11 points, hitting three triples, while Steyer went 4-for-6 from the floor, securing a team-high six rebounds.
 
Sophomore Tyler McDine (Suffern, N.Y.) led the team with five assists, adding five points in the game. Sophomore Andrew Holmes (Niskayuna, N.Y.) scored a season-high seven points and Bacci rounded out the night with five points and three assists. Patsalos finished off the night with eight points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
 
The visiting Rams received a game-high 18 points from Graham who added three assists and seven rebounds. Lanieri chipped in with 14 points and Monaghan closed the night with 11 points and three helpers.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game shooting 44.8-percent overall and 35.7-percent from distance. The Rams converted at a 45.6-percent rate and outscored the Knights 11-4 from the free-throw line.
 
Monday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 4-7 overall and to 2-5 in Skyline Conference play. The Knights will look to get back into the win column on Thursday when they welcome Sarah Lawrence to the Kaplan Center. Tip-off with the Gryphons is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

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