Farmingdale State Tops Men’s Basketball to Begin the New Year

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Following their third-place triumph at the York College Invitational last month, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team returned to the court on Saturday afternoon; resuming Skyline Conference play against Farmingdale State College. However, the Bears (1-11, 0-4 Skyline) fell to the Rams (6-6, 2-1 Skyline), 90-51, from the Nold Hall Athletic Center.

How it Happened

After trading a pair of buckets to begin the game, the hosts went on a 14-2 run, leading 16-4 eight minutes into the contest. Treys by Sirakis and Samil Melo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Adams Street) midway through the opening period saw the Bears remain in touching distance but the Rams knocked down a pair of threes of their own to take their largest lead of the half, 32-15, with 5:32 on the clock. SJC began to climb out of their 17-point hole to trail by just 10 at the intermission, 40-30.

The Bears were unable to trim their deficit back to single digits. Three minutes into the second stanza, The Rams netted 22 of the next 25 points, with a Sirakis three sandwiched between the scoring run. FSC, winners of four of their last five, shot 54.3 percent from the field (19-for-35) to walk away with the 90-51 victory.

For the Bears

• Sirakis finished with a team-high 10 points.

• Chris Mikos (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) led the squad in rebounds (10) to go along with nine points and three assists.

• Chris Tracy (Glendale, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) also scored nine points, shooting a perfect 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. The Bears shot 87.5 percent from the stripe.

• Joseph Ghotra (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Hyde Park Memorial) dropped eight points with three boards and an assist.

• Melo collected seven caroms and scored five points

• Richie Simon (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) had six rebounds of his own while James Mojica (South Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) finished with five.

Up Next

The Bears visit Mount Saint Mary College on Saturday, January 15 before opening a two-game homestand at The Hill Center. Tipoff from Newburgh is slated for 2 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com/live.

As a reminder, spectators will not be permitted at Skyline Conference institutions until at least February 1.