Farmingdale, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball team fell for the third time in its last four outings on Saturday following a 94-71 road conference loss at Farmingdale State. Kendall Francis (Great Neck, N.Y) led the scoring attack with 28 points, with Jameson Morton (Woodstock, N.Y.) chipping in 10 points.
 
A Francis three-pointer opened the scoring and gave the Knights a quick 3-0 lead, but the Rams rattled off a 19-2 run to surge in front 19-5 on a pair of Ryan Kennedy free-throws with 13:58 left before halftime.
 
The Farmingdale State lead grew to 15 points with 11:04 left in the opening stanza, before the Knights put together a 23-10 stretch that sliced the deficit to 34-32 on a Morton bucket in transition with 4:35 left before halftime.
 
The Mount got as close as two points again with just under three minutes left in the half, but a 12-3 closing run from the Rams sent them to the intermission with a 48-37 advantage. The Mount went without a field goal following a Francis triple with 1:36 left in the half and allowed a George Riefenstahl bucket in the closing seconds, pushing the deficit back to double-figures.
 
Mount Saint Mary shot 46.7-percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes and knocked down four three-pointers. Farmingdale State converted at 53.6-percent and hit eight triples. Francis led all scorers at the break with 17 points for the Knights, while Anthony Miller paced the Rams with 12 first half tallies.
 
Mount Saint Mary got its disadvantage down to six points early in the second half after a Francis triple and a lay-in from Ethan Fox (Wallingford, Conn.), but Farmingdale answered with the next 20 points to push its lead to 68-42 on a Miller lay-in with 13:58 left to play.
 
The Knights got to within 19 points on a pair of Francis free-throws with 6:59 left in the tilt, but the Rams pushed the lead back to 24 points following a De'Shawn Todman bucket and a triple from Miller with just shy of five minutes remaining. The lead grew to a game-high 28 points with 1:57 left before the Rams took the final 23-point decision.
 
The Knights cooled to 37.9-percent shooting after halftime, with six of their 11 second half field goals coming from behind the arc. Farmingdale State improved to 57.1-percent shooting after halftime, making nine more field goals than the Knights over the final 20 minutes.
 
Francis finished the day 9-for-17 from the floor, including seven three-pointers, on his way to a game-high 28 points. He added three rebounds and three assists for the Knights. Morton came off the bench to score 10 points, adding four rebounds and a pair of helpers.
 
Nick Lucas (Sparta, N.J.) paced the Mount on the glass with five rebounds, adding nine points on 4-for-4 shooting, while Tristan Millett (Allentown, N.J.) led the way with five assists. Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) swiped four steals for the Mount and chipped in four points and a pair of helpers.
 
Farmingdale State featured four players in double-figures, led by 21 points from Miller. Ryan Kennedy came off the bench to produce 13 points, while Riefenstahl finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and a pair of blocked shots.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the day shooting 42.4-percent overall and 41.7-percent from three-point range. Farmingdale State converted at 55.6-percent and 44.4-percent from long distance. The Rams held the rebounding advantage 45-24 and controlled points in the paint 46-28 and second chance scoring 16-2.
 
At 8-4 overall and 5-2 in Skyline Conference play, Mount Saint Mary returns home on Tuesday to play host to Sarah Lawrence. Tip-off with the Gryphons is set for 8:00 p.m.