It was raining three's in the Palestra on Friday Night as the University of Rochester men's basketball team was set to take on Farmingdale State College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In what felt like a packed house, the Yellowjackets came out on top in an 85-68 victory.
Rochester got off to a great start, with
Patrick Benka draining a three-pointer right off the bat to open up the game for the Yellowjackets. UR continued to feed off the energy of the crowd to open up the game on an 11-2 run.
"I think that was the best crowd we had all season"
Ryan Clamage stated. "It's just our environment".
The Yellowjackets seemed liked they enjoyed the benefit of being able to host in the first round. Rochester went on to shoot 17 of 30 from the floor in the first half, including 9 of 11 from downtown.
While Farmingdale State had a small two point lead, with 7:28 left in the first half, the Yellowjackets would go on to lead by as many as 13 in the half, going into the break up 46-38.
Clamage and Benka led the way in the first half for UR. Clamage had 13 points and a pair of boards in the first half, while Benka drain four from beyond the arc for a total of 12 points in the first half.
Rochester would just continue to thrive off of the crowd in the second half, building the lead to as many as 27.
Andrew Lundstrom drained a pair of big three's late to seal it and
Brendan O'Shea came up with a 12 points and a huge steal in the second period for the Yellowjackets.
When it was all said and done, Benka and Clamage led the way for UR. Clamage posted a double-double on 19 points and 10 rebounds, also dishing out seven assists. Benka nailed six three-pointers, a career high, finishing with 18 points.
Lundstrom and O'Shea also made significant contributions for the Yellowjackets. O'Shea finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. Lundstrom posted 14 points and 6 boards in the victory. Lundstrom also tied a career high with three treys.
Jacob Wittig finished the game with seven assists, and five points. UR had eight different players score in the victory.
As a team, Rochester nailed a season-high 16 three-pointers, which is tied for fifth most in a single game in UR men's basketball history.
"I was just really proud of our guys for the effort they put in for 40 minutes and just competed," Coach
Luke Flockerzi mentioned after the win. "It was a really nice win for us".
The Yellowjackets will return to action tomorrow night at 7pm in the Palestra as they will take on #7 Amherst College in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Amherst beat Rosemont in 84-53 in the opening round earlier on Friday.
