Riverdale, N.Y. – The College of Mount Saint Vincent Men's Basketball team closed out the home portion of the 2013-14 schedule on Monday night with a 65-46 loss to Farmingdale State. Freshman guard Kahlil Shorter (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the Mount with a career-high 15 points.
 
Mount Saint Vincent got off to a quick start on Monday and did not allow Farmingdale State a field goal until the 14:31 mark of the opening period. Prior to a Weldon Irvine bucket, the Dolphins built an 11-1 lead after going 4-for-8 from the floor over the first 4:20 of the game. The Mount forced four turnovers over that stretch and held the Rams to just a pair of field goal attempts.
 
The Dolphins would hold on to the advantage until the 2:29 mark of the first half when Timothy Johnson canned a three-pointer for Farmingdale State to tie the score at 23-23. The two teams would go on to trade baskets in the final 2:09 of the half, with Shorter hitting a jumper with 2:09 to play before the half and Wilson Molina converting a jumper with 1:38 left to send the teams into the break tied at 25-25.
 
Both teams shot well under 40-percent from the floor in the first half, with the Dolphins going 10-for-32 overall and the Rams shooting 10-for-28. Each team made a pair of three-point field goals, but Farmingdale State held a 12-4 edge in paint points and an 8-3 advantage in second chance points. Brandon Serrano (Hempstead, N.Y.) and Antonio Johnson (Fort Johnson, N.Y.) led all scorers in the half for the Mount with seven points apiece.
 
The Rams came out of the intermission and scored the first five points of the second half to jump in front 30-25 on another Johnson three-point field goal. The Dolphins would get their first field goal of the half just over four minutes into the period on a Serrano jumper, but would not be able to get closer than the three point deficit they faced after the conversion.
 
Farmingdale State would push its lead to double-figures for the first time on a Donald Lawes jumper with 8:14 to play in the game and expanded it to a game-high 21 points on a Lawes lay-in that gave the visitors a 65-44 lead in the final minute.
 
The Dolphins converted at just a 25-percent rate after halftime and saw the visitors improve their shooting to 51.5-percent in the second stanza. The Rams got 30 points in the paint after halftime, with Lawes scoring 13 of his game-high 18 points after the break.
 
Farmingdale State rounded out the game shooting 44.3-percent and was led by Lawes who finished 7-for-15 from the floor. Johnson added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Johnathan Annan hauled in 10 rebounds. Molina led all players in the game with six assists.
 
Shorter scored in double-figures for the fifth time this season after going 7-for-13 from the floor on Monday. He added a team-high four steals and knocked down one of the team's three triples in the game.
 
Serrano reached double-figures with 12 points to go along with eight rebounds, while Johnson finished with seven points and team-highs in rebounds with nine and assists with four. Jesse Regina (Staten Island, N.Y.) closed the night with three assists for the Dolphins.
 
Mount Saint Vincent closed the game shooting a season-low 28.1-percent and was held to under 50 points for the second straight game and the fourth time this season. The Dolphins were outscored in the paint 42-18 and in second chance points 16-4 on Monday.
 
Monday's loss drops Mount Saint Vincent to 7-16 overall on the season and to 5-11 in Skyline Conference play. The Dolphins will hit the road to take on Maritime on Wednesday as they continue the final week of the regular season. Tip-off with the Privateers is set for 6:00 p.m.

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