Men's Basketball Upsets Farmingdale State to Advance to Skyline Semifinals

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Fueled by nine second-half three-pointers, the No. 6-seed St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) erased a 12-point second-half deficit to claim a 78-75 upset victory over No. 3-seed Farmingdale State in the first round of the Skyline Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Tuesday night in Farmingdale, N.Y.

The Basics

• Final Score: St. Joseph's 78, Farmingdale State 75
• Records: St. Joseph's (14-12), Farmingdale State (14-12)
• Date: February 23, 2016
• Location: Farmingdale, N.Y.
• Arena: Walter A. Lynch Sports Center
• Starters:
  • St. Joseph's: Willis (G), O'Neill (G), Parr (G), Archer (F), Megafu (F)
  • Farmingdale State: Graham (G), Kinloch (G), Kinard (G), Riefenstahl (F), Irvine (F)

Turning Points

• Back-to-back-to-back trifectas from Michael Murray and Alec Willis turned a six-point deficit into a three-point lead—their first of the game—with 9:52 to play and the Bears only trailed momentarily after that.
• With the Bears clinging to a one-point lead with 11.6 seconds left, Murray made both free throws in the bonus to prompt FSC to go for three on their final possession.

How it Happened

• The Rams held momentum in the opening stages, using a 7-0 spurt to claim a 16-8 advantage at the 12:06 mark.
• With 4:49 left in the first half, Trey Kinard drained a jumper to move Farmingdale State up 30-21 as they continued to hold off St. Joseph's.
• Michael Megafu recorded the final four points of the half for the Bears, including a pair of free throws with one tick left to move them within two, 35-33, headed into the lockers.
• The Rams opened the second half with a 13-3 charge, connecting on their first six shots, capped by Matthew Graham's triple at the 16:21 mark, building their largest lead of the game at 12, 48-36.
• St. Joseph's quickly slashed into the deficit with eight consecutive points, as Matt O'Neill drained two deep triples, making it 48-44 Rams with 14:28 remaining.
• After failing to make any three-pointers in the opening half, the Bears continued to find the stroke from behind the arc and back-to-back-to-back three-pointers from Michael Murray and Alec Willis gave the Bears their first lead of the game, 55-52.
• The lead grew as large as five, but Farmingdale battled back to make it 72-71 with 2:38 to play following a pair of free throws from Liam Monaghan. After more than a minute of scoreless play, the Rams then reclaimed the lead off of Weldon Irvine's layup with just 1:13 remaining.
• Fifteen seconds later, O'Neill fed Megafu under the rim for the go-ahead basket, but plagued with foul trouble, fouled out with 12.6 seconds left and Eddie Kinloch made both to cut the Bears lead to one.
• Michael Murray sank both free-throws in the bonus to give the Bears a 78-75 cushion with 11.1 ticks left, and the Rams failed to connect for a game-tying triple in the waning seconds.

For the Bears

• Michael Megafu led all scorers with 20 points on a resourceful 8-of-11 shooting performance. The senior also collected six rebounds and stayed active on the defensive end with a game-high four steals.
• Matt O'Neill finished 4-for-9 from downtown en route to 18 points. The senior added game highs in assists (6) and thefts (4).
• Senior Jamir Archer netted 17 on 7-of-11 shooting and corralled eight rebounds.
• Michael Murray delivered 16 off the bench along with five dimes.

For the Rams

• Eddie Kinloch led the Rams with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting while adding three assists and a pair of steals.
• Matthew Graham netted a team-high four three-pointers en route to 14 points.
• Weldon Irvine made all six of his field goal attempts, finishing with 13 points and four caroms.

Inside the Box Score

• Both sides were efficient from the floor, with St. Joseph's shooting 31-of-62 (50.0%) and the Rams finishing 31-of-57 (54.4%).
• Finishing 9-of-26 (34.6%) from three-point range, St. Joseph's netted all nine of their triples in the second half to feed their comeback.
• The Bears compiled a 17-9 turnover advantage and converted their opponent's miscues into 21 points.
• Farmingdale controlled the boards for a 35-26 rebound advantage.
• St. Joseph's did not claim their first lead until the 9:52 mark of the second half.

The Bear Facts

• St. Joseph's victory in their first ever Skyline Conference Championship appearance.
• The Bears dropped both meetings to Farmingdale during the regular season—a 105-101 overtime loss on December 10 and most recently a lopsided 100-80 loss on the same floor just 10 days ago.

Next up for St. Joseph's 

Advancing to the Skyline Conference Championship semifinals, the Bears will head to Albany, N.Y. to face defending champion and No. 2-seed Sage on Thursday, February 25, at 8 p.m. Both squads split the season series, with the Bears winning 101-85 at home on Jan. 20. Live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com.