The Dalers boys’ basketball team (6-9 overall, 3-7 in-conference) hosted the Oceanside Sailors on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 11.
The Dalers’ focus was on the Sailors’ point guard, Gene Garay, an all-around athlete who Farmingdale recognized as Oceanside’s All-Long Island wide receiver as well.
For the second straight game, Farmingdale got off to a rough start. Neither side scored a point until nearly three minutes into the game, after a Sailors’ layup gave them the early lead.
The Dalers’ offense struggled early and did not score until Dalique Mingo made a layup with two minutes left in the quarter. Mingo’s basket was Farmingdale’s only points of the quarter, which ended with the Dalers trailing 8-2.
The second quarter was a battle of point guards, as Garay and Mingo accounted for 21 combined points in the quarter.
Mingo, a sophomore, hit a half-court shot at the buzzer, ending the first half. The point guard’s three allowed Farmingdale, despite being down 31-18, to go into halftime with momentum.
The second half opened up with a three-pointer by sophomore Kevin Petit-Ferar to cut the lead to ten points. Garay responded with a three of his own to extend the lead back to 13. Freshman Curtis Jenkins added four points in the quarter and Mingo five, but Oceanside’s flow could not be stopped. The scoring went back and forth, and the quarter ended with the Sailors in front, 47-34.
Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Mingo sank eight free throws and a three-pointer and Farmingdale trailed by ten. Another three by the sophomore cut the lead to seven, 56-49.
Then Garay took control. Throughout the entire game the senior used a quick crossover out by the three-point line to drive to the basket, which would lead to drawing a foul, scoring, or dishing it to a teammate. All game long he drew contact to get to the free throw line. He did just that late in the fourth quarter, making six trips to the line, going 12 for 12 in the last four minutes of the game.
The Dalers’ offense did enough to keep the team in the game during the fourth, but Oceanside’s lead was never less than seven throughout the quarter. The Sailors prevailed by a final score of 75-65.
Garay finished with 26 points, 16 of which came from the free throw line, and dished out six assists. Oceanside had plenty of other contributors, as Brian Nnadi hit three three-pointers and scored 17 points. Chris Flynn grabbed 17 rebounds with nine points and eight assists. Dalique Mingo scored 37 points to lead all scorers in this game. Farmingdale did not have much scoring outside of Mingo, as Jenkins scored eight and Petit-Ferar seven.
