Written by Julia Ruocchio
When and Where:
January 8, 2025 - Patchogue, NY
Records:
St. Joseph's (L.I.), 2-10, 1-2 Skyline
Farmingdale State, 5-7, 2-1 Skyline
Results:
The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team suffered an 80-71 loss to Farmingdale State College in a conference match-up at the Danzi Center on Wednesday evening.
Top performers:
- Sophomore AJ Esposito led the Golden Eagles with 17 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, while grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds for a double-double. He also led the team with two blocks
- Sophomore Kenny Rodriguez scored 14 points and went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc while adding four rebounds and four assists
- Senior Spencer Malloy contributed 12 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field, with eight rebounds and a team-high five assists
- Senior Ryan McNeely added 12 points and went 3-for-5 from three-point territory
- Kentrell Evans led all players with 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds for the Rams
- Sean Conroy scored 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting with six assists, while Jevon Santos contributed 12 points and a game-high four steals
How it happened:
- The first four minutes of the game featured five lead changes, with Farmingdale State holding a 7-6 lead at the 16:24 mark
- The Golden Eagles cut the lead to one (9-8) once again on a layup for Malloy, who scored all of the first eight points for the hosts
- A three-point play for Hamdel Mohammed extended FSC's lead to 14-8 at the 14:38 mark, then the visitors took a lead of nine (19-10) on a three for Robbie Siechen and a layup for Mohammed about three minutes later following an Esposito layup
- The Golden Eagles scored six straight points to trim the deficit to three (19-16), with five of those points scored by Esposito
- A three shortly after for Rodriguez cut the deficit to two points (21-19) with 8:32 on the clock
- Three-pointers for Michael Notias and Santos extended FSC's lead to eight (27-19) with 6:33 remaining
- Trailing by nine at the five minute mark, junior Anthony Todd made a pair of layups to trim the deficit to five (32-27)
- Farmingdale State scored six of the next eight points to go back ahead by nine (38-29) on a jumper by Conroy at the 3:13 mark
- Junior Justin Turner made a three and McNeely made a layup in the final minutes to come within four (38-34), before the visitors went into the half down by six (40-34)
- About two minutes into the second half, McNeely made a three and Graduate Student Justin Forest made a layup to cut the lead to one (42-41) at the 17:31 mark
- Farmingdale scored seven straight points to take back a lead of eight (49-41), sparked by a three for Liam Buckley
- The Rams took a lead of 10 four separate times in the next four and a half minutes, then they took a 12-point lead for their largest lead of the night (61-49) on a jumper by Evans at the 8:30 mark
- Three-point baskets for Rodriguez and McNeely put the Golden Eagles back in the game, with Rodriguez's second three in the span of two minutes making it a six-point game (65-59) with 6:26 on the clock
- Conroy of the Rams responded with a three of his own on the next possession, before McNeely made another three at the 4:45 mark to cut the deficit to six (68-62)
- Farmingdale State went back up by 10 (72-62) on a layup for Conroy with 2:52 remaining
- The hosts came within seven three times over the game's final minutes, before the Rams came away with an 80-71 victory
Notes:
- St. Joseph's shot 48.3% from the field and 47.4% from three-point range
- The Rams posted a 42.7% shooting percentage overall and 30.4% from beyond the arc
- SJLI shot 4-for-6 (66.7%) on free throws, while FSC went a perfect 9-for-9 (100%) on free throws
- The Golden Eagles held the advantage in rebounds (39-34), while Farmingdale out-scored the hosts in the paint (38-34)
- SJLI received 32 bench points compared to FSC's 22
Next up:
The Golden Eagles take on U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on the road for a conference match-up on Saturday, January 11 at 1:00pm.
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