Men's Hoops Falls to Farmingdale State Sunday in USJ Holiday Tournament Opener

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - For the second consecutive year, the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team fell in the opening game of its own USJ Holiday Tournament, presented by Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast. Last season, the hosts fell to Lycoming College, while this year the Farmingdale State College (FSC) Rams snapped a four-game losing streak in route to taking down USJ, 73-66, inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium Sunday afternoon in West Hartford, Conn. With the result, FSC improved to 3-6 on the season, while Saint Joseph dropped to 6-4.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The opening nine-plus minutes provided a lot of back and forth as both teams traded the lead seven times. Senior guard Kevin Cummings (Portsmouth, N.H.) connected on a three-pointer to tie the score at 14-all with 12:56 left in the first half.
• The next 11 points belonged to the Rams, taking a 25-14 lead, which was finally halted after freshman forward Adelphe Cisse (Point-Noire, Congo) made jumper to cut the deficit to 25-16 with 8:21 left in the first half.
• Cisse made another jumper with 4:26 left in the first half to make it a 32-23 ball game, but neither team scored another point for the rest of the half, giving Farmingdale State a nine-point lead at the break.
• The Blue Jays scored the first five points of the second half, including a three-pointer from junior guard Lence Altenor (Everett, Mass.), to cut the deficit to 32-28 with 18:12 left.
• With the Blue Jays trailing 34-29, the Rams went on an 8-0 run over a 71-second span, including five straight points in nine seconds to push the visitor's lead to 42-29 with 14:40 to play.
• The Rams led by as many as 16 points after a dunk from junior guard Sean Conroy (Staten Island, N.Y.) to take a 48-32 lead.
• However, USJ would cut the deficit to five after a tip-in from Altenor to make it 56-51 with 6:25 left, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the way.
• With just over a minute left, the Blue Jays had a chance to cut the Rams lead to three, but USJ missed three three-pointers and a tip-in on one possession and FSC would hold on for a 73-66 final margin of victory. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Today was the first meeting all-time between Farmingdale State and USJ.
• Three Blue Jays scored in double-figures: Friedrich Feldrappe (game-high 21 points), Altenor (18 points), and Cisse (12 points).
• Feldrappe pulled down a game-high and career-high 14 rebounds to go along with his game-high 21 points to log his second double-double of the season for USJ.
• Cisse recorded his second straight/career double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds).
• USJ shot a season best 81.0% from the free throw line (17-21).

UP NEXT

It's a quick turnaround for the Blue Jays as they will take on Western Connecticut State University (WCSU) tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. in the USJ Holiday Tournament consolation game inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. USJ will look to avoid dropping its second straight home game for the first time ever in program history Monday afternoon versus the Wolves. The championship game will be played at approximately 3:00 p.m. between Farmingdale State and Connecticut College, who defeated WCSU, 80-64, in the other first round contest.

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