Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Basketball played the middle game of a three-game home stand Thursday night, dropping a tight 77-72 Skyline Conference decision to visiting Farmingdale State.
Jayden Racca (New Fairfield, Conn.) came off the bench to lead four Knights in double-figures with 13 points.
Thursday's loss, the Mount's third straight, drops it to 5-13 overall on the season and 2-7 in Skyline Conference play. Farmingdale State improves to 12-6 overall and 7-2 in league play.
First Half
- A tightly contested first half saw the Rams carry a five-point lead into halftime.
- The Knights opened an early 11-6 lead when Matthew Walsh (Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.) buried a three-pointer just over four minutes into the contest.
- The Mount matched its half-high lead when Jayden Figueroa (New Windsor, N.Y.) connected on a three-pointer to give the Knights an 18-13 lead with 11:41 left in the opening period.
- Farmingdale State answered with the next seven points, capped by a Tre Riggins lay-up, to pull in front 20-18.
- Elijah Barnett (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) put the Knights back in front 26-25, starting a string of four straight lead changes.
- Corey Powell pushed the Rams in front 29-28 ahead of a Macai John bucket with 3:32 left in the half to give the visitors a 31-28 lead.
- Justin Rivera (Hazlet, N.J.) brought the Mount back even with a three-pointer, before the Rams scored seven of the final nine points of the opening period.
- Jevon Santos pushed Farmingdale State back in front 33-31 with a layup at the 2:41 mark of the half and John canned a triple in the closing seconds off an offensive rebound to send the visitors into the break with a 38-33 advantage.
- Mount Saint Mary shot 44.8-percent overall in the opening period and connected on four three-pointers.
- Farmingdale State converted at 47.2-percent, but finished the first half just 2-for-12 from three-point range.
- Figueroa led the Knights prior to halftime with eight points.
- John led all players at the break with nine points for the Rams.
Second Half
- Farmingdale State held the lead coming out of the intermission until Ryan Graham (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer to knot the score at 42-42 with 17:27 left in the contest.
- Following the Graham basket, the Rams ripped of the next 10 points, including eight from Nick Hurowitz, to grab a 52-42 advantage.
- The visitors matched their largest lead of the game at the 12:46 mark of the second half when Powell put them in front 54-44.
- After falling behind by double-figures twice, the Knights climbed back to within four following a triple from Racca and a three-point play from R. Graham,
- Farmingdale State would hold off the Knights until a Connor Cyran (Garfield, N.J.) bucket put the Mount back in front 60-59 with 7:14 left to play.
- Racca's second of three second half triples pushed the Knights in front 63-61 and his third trey of the half capped an 8-0 run and gave the Knights a 68-61 lead with 5:17 remaining in the contest.
- The Mount stayed in front until a John free-throw with 2:32 left knotted the score at 70-70.
- The Knights took their final lead of the game when Racca knocked down a jumper with 2:09 left to give the Mount back a 72-70 advantage.
- Farmingdale State closed the game on a 7-0 run and snuck in front for good on a Jovayne Walters three-point play with 33 seconds left to play.
- The Rams went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line in the closing seconds to complete the comeback.
- The Knights improved to 46.9-percent shooting after halftime and hit four triples, but went 1-for-7 in their final eight attempts from long distance.
- Farmingdale State cooled to 38.2-percent shooting and went 1-for-8 from behind the arc, but outscored the Mount 10-5 from the charity stripe in the second half.
For The Knights
- Racca scored in double-figures for the third straight game, going 5-for-8 from the floor and 3-for-5 from three-point range. He added two assists and a steal on the night.
- Figueroa finished the night with 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting and added seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
- Barnett chipped in 11 points, seven rebounds and a team-high four assists.
- Brenden Graham (Campbell Hall, N.Y.) matched his career-high with 11 points off the bench.
For The Rams
- Hurowitz led all players in the game with 22 points, going 7-for-16 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the charity stripe. He closed out a double-double with a game-high 12 caroms and chipped in three assists.
- John came off the bench to produce 14 points and eight rebounds.
- Walter scored 11 points for the Rams, hauled in nine rebounds and blocked four shots.
- Powell contributed 10 points and three assists.
- Santos handed out four assists and totaled five points.
Game Statistics
- Mount Saint Mary shot 45.9-percent for the game and finished 8-for-29 from three-point range.
- Farmingdale State converted at 42.9-percent overall and struggled from three-point range, going just 3-for-20.
- Farmingdale State outscored the Mount 14-8 from the free-throw line.
- The Rams collected 22 offensive rebounds leading to a 30-8 advantage in second chance scoring.
- Mount Saint Mary held a slim 15-14 advantage in points off of turnovers.
What's Next
- Mount Saint Mary closes its homestand Saturday afternoon against Old Westbury.
- Farmingdale State travels to Sarah Lawrence Saturday.
