Waleed Farird collected 23 points in the Ducks' loss on Wednesday. |
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (February 8, 2006) – Sparked by a tremendous performance from senior forward Kenny McMillan (Bronx, N.Y.), the Farmingdale State University men’s basketball team rolled to a 91-73 victory over Stevens Institute of Technology on Wednesday night at the Lynch Sports Center in Farmingdale, N.Y. McMillan led all scorers with 37 points on 16-for-25 shooting from the floor and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds as the Skyline Conference-leading Rams (17-4, 11-1) won their seventh straight.
Stevens (11-10, 6-5) was led by sophomore guard Waleed Farid (Woodside, N.Y.), who collected 23 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Farid was 6-for-10 from the floor and connected on five of eight shots from downtown. Freshman guard Virgil Gray II (Elmwood Park, N.J.) added 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting. Senior guard Ryan Kander (Belle Harbor, N.Y.) contributed 11 points and four rebounds off the bench. Freshman guard Damien Palantino (Philadelphia, Pa.) nailed three shots from downtown and finished with nine points on the evening.
Aside from McMillan’s heroics, the Rams received a solid performance out of freshman guard Daimien Santana (Brooklyn, N.Y.), who was 10 of 12 at the foul line. Santana collected 16 points, nine assists and three steals in the game. Senior guard M.D. Mazique (Bronx, N.Y.) added 13 points, three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Trailing 59-45 midway through the second half, the Ducks made things interesting with a 9-0 run in the span of 65 seconds to get within 59-54 with 9:31 to play. Farid drained back-to-back three-pointers to get things going, and Palantino followed with a long-range shot of his own.
Farmingdale wasted little time responding as the Rams scored seven straight points over the next minute to reestablish control. Following a three-pointer by Mazique, McMillan connected on a lay-up. Santana added a jumper in the lane as Farmingdale opened a 66-54 lead with eight minutes remaining. Stevens would not challenge again as the Ducks were unable to cut the deficit below 10 points the rest of the way.
In the first half, Farmingdale used a 9-0 run in the span of 4:04 to turn a four-point game into a 13-point cushion (31-18) with five minutes left in the period. McMillan scored five points in the spurt.
Farmingdale entered the locker room at halftime with a 45-20 lead as McMillan scored 18 first-half points.
For the game, the Rams shot 51.5 percent (34-for-66) from the field. Stevens, which was 26-for-60 (43.3 percent) in the contest, turned the ball over 25 times.
The Ducks will be back in action on Saturday when they host Manhattanville College in a pivotal Skyline game beginning at 2 p.m. Prior to that contest, the annual men’s basketball alumni game will take place in Canavan Arena at 11 a.m.
