Waleed Farid led Stevens with 17 points as the Ducks fell to Farmingdale, 75-54. |
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (February 23, 2006) – Top-seeded Farmingdale State University opened the second half on a 35-15 run over the first 10 minutes as the Rams rolled to a 75-54 victory over No. 5 seed Stevens Institute of Technology in the semifinals of the Skyline Conference Men’s Basketball Championship on Thursday evening at the Lynch Sports Center in Farmingdale, N.Y. Senior forward Kenny McMillan (Bronx, N.Y.) tallied a game-high 22 points and pulled down 13 rebounds as Farmingdale (21-5) advanced to the championship game for the second straight season.
Stevens, which will await word of a possible ECAC Metro Championship bid early next week, had its four-game win streak snapped and likely finished the year with an overall record of 15-12. The 15 wins are tied for the second most in program history. The Ducks also earned their first winning season since posting a 16-11 record in 1995-96.
Tied at 22-all with less than two minutes to play in the first half, junior guard Terry Menefee (Mission, Kans.) scored inside to give the Rams a two-point lead. After making one of two free throws to push the margin to three, McMillan came up with a huge play as he forced a turnover by the Ducks and raced down court to score on a breakaway lay-up at the buzzer.
Leading 32-26 with just over two minutes gone in the second period, Farmingdale went on a 13-2 run in the span of 2:40 as the Rams took control of the game. Freshman guard Daimien Santana (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored five points in the spurt. Santana capped the burst with a jumper as Farmingdale opened a 45-28 lead with 14:48 remaining.
After Stevens cut the lead to 13 points (45-32) on a pair of free throws by sophomore forward Joe Ayodele (Tempe, Ariz.), the Rams put the game out of reach with a 17-5 run over the next four minutes, Santana started the run with a three-pointer. McMillan scored the next six points for Farmingdale. Senior guard Dashawn Warren (Astoria, N.Y.) capped the burst with a lay-up on a fast break as the Rams extended their lead to 62-37 with just over nine minutes to play.
Stevens struggled shooting the ball the entire game as the Ducks shot 30.4 percent (17-for-56) from the floor. In the second half, Stevens connected on only nine of 31 field-goal attempts (29.0 percent).
On the other hand, Farmingdale shot 62.1 percent (18-for-29) after intermission while scoring 48 second-half points. The Rams made 30 of 57 field goals (52.6 percent) in the game. Farmingdale also owned a big advantage on the boards as it out-rebounded Stevens 48-29.
The Ducks were led by sophomore guard Waleed Farid (Woodside, N.Y.), who scored 17 points. Senior guard Isaac Moore (Phoenix, Ariz.) tallied 11 points and four rebounds in what appeared to be his final game. Junior forward Tim Williams (Selden, N.Y.) added 10 points in the loss. Senior guard Ryan Kander (Belle Harbor, N.Y.) had four points and two steals in his final game in a Ducks’ uniform.
For Farmingdale, Santana collected 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the floor. Menefee finished with 11 points while making five of eight shots from the field.
After both teams played to a standstill over the first five minutes of the contest, Stevens took its biggest lead of the game (13-7) with 10:13 left in the period as freshman guard Damien Palantino (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Farid knocked down back-to-back three-pointers. The Rams helped matters as they went 6:23 without scoring.
In the other semifinal on Thursday, No. 2 seed Manhattanville College overcame a five-point deficit in the final 2:31 en route to posting an 89-85 victory over defending champion and third-seeded Mount Saint Mary College at Kennedy Gymnasium in Purchase, N.Y. The Rams and the Valiants will meet for the Skyline title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Farmingdale.
