Strong First Half Not Enough as Men’s Basketball Falls to Farmingdale State on Senior Night

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — As the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team honored their three seniors, Chris Mikos (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) and Richie Simon (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) each scored 12 points and combined for 13 rebounds against Farmingdale State College. However, despite a strong start and a six-point lead, the Bears (3-21, 2-13 Skyline) dropped a 73-52 result to the South Division-leading Rams (17-7, 13-2 Skyline) on Tuesday night from The Hill Center.

Joseph Ghotra (Brooklyn, N.Y./New Hyde Park Memorial), who made his 12th start of the season, joined Mikos and Simon in Senior Night celebrations prior to the opening tip.

How it Happened

The Rams jumped out to an early 12-1 lead before SJC countered with a 16-3 outburst, capped off by an Anderson Beltre (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Holy Cross) triple, to lead 16-15 with 8:08 remaining in the first half. A Simon trey with five minutes left saw the Bears go up 25-19, their largest of the game. However, the visitors scored 12 of the final 14 points of the period to take a 31-27 edge into the locker room.

Farmingdale State held on to their advantage for the rest of the game, taking a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the second stanza, 43-32, before it ballooned to 25, 66-41, with 4:50 remaining. The Rams ultimately sealed their 73-52 victory, extending their win streak to nine contests.

For the Bears

• Mikos and Simon's 12 points led the team. The two also recorded a pair of steals each.

• Mikos, who was named Skyline Player of the Week and was selected to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week earlier today, led the team with nine rebounds and tallied two assists while Simon pulled four boards.

• James Mojica (South Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) netted 10 points and forced a steal.

• Beltre finished with eight points, seven caroms, and a pair of assists.

Up Next

The Bears conclude the 2021-22 season with a visit to No. 24 Yeshiva University on Saturday, February 19 at 8:30 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on sjcbears.com/live.