Farmingdale State Too Much for Men’s Basketball in Home Opener

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Despite placing six players in double-figures and posting a season-high in points, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (0-3, 0-1 Skyline) couldn't counter a 37-point, 16-rebound effort from George Reifenstahl who led Farmingdale State College (3-0, 1-0) to a 102-89 triumph on Tuesday evening at The Hill Center in both team's Skyline Conference openers.

Junior Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) paced the Bears with 21 points and eight rebounds.

How It Happened

After a Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) layup off a Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) theft opened the scoring, the Rams responded with a nine straight for an early cushion.

The Rams led by as many as 12 at the 13:36 mark before the Bears assembled a 19-6 spurt sparked by trifectas from Reali, Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), and Matt McQuillen (St. Peter's) to move back on top 23-22 with 8:39 to go. But the visitors would gradually pull away again and expanded their lead to 11, 52-41 headed into the lockers, with Riefenstahl putting up 20 before the intermission.

Farmingdale expanded their advantage to 17, 72-55, at the 12:50 mark of the second before the Bears chipped away with their best scoring run of the game scoring 10 straight powered by five from McQuillen to pull within six, 75-69, just past the midway point of the half. But that was the closest the Bears could get as the Rams kept their distance shooting 51 percent (18-35) in the half and 11-of-13 from the stripe.

For the Bears

• Stephane Etheart finished with team highs of 21 points and eight rebounds.
• Reali shot 5-of-10 from the field to finish with 13 points, upping his high in a Bears jersey.
• McQuillen provided a spark off the bench, netting 12 points, with three rebounds and three assists.
• Sebastien Etheart also had 12 points, with seven dimes and five boards.
• Sirakis finished with 11 points and three assists.
• Rookie Tyler Holness (Boston, Mass./Malden) reached double-figures for the first time in his collegiate career with 11 off the bench on 4-of-4 shooting with four rebounds and three assists.

Next Up for the Bears

The Bears will break for action for Thanksgiving and face the first of their two Division I opponents heading to Columbia for an exhibition game on Sunday (Nov. 25) tipping off at 2 p.m. That game can be viewed on ESPN+ (subscription).