TROY, February 16 - The Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball team clinched the Eastern Division of the Mountain Valley Conference last night, defeating Schenectady County Community College, 85-78, at the McDonough Complex. The Vikings improved to 20-5 on the season, marking the second consecutive year Vince Medici's Hudson Valley squad has won 20 or more games. The loss dropped Schenectady to 11-14.
Albany High graduate Dave Walden led the way for the Vikings, scoring 18 points, dishing out 11 assists, grabbing eight rebounds and recording four steals. Tom Perren of New Jersey led all Hudson Valley scorers with 23 points. He also hauled in seven rebounds and thrilled the McDonough Complex crowd, which was about 400 strong, with several rim-rattling dunks. La Salle Institute grad Dennis Pitaniello added 18 points, including four three-pointers, and Kurt Bush, a Newcomb-Minerva grad, tossed in 10 points.
Schenectady's Dan Taylor, a 6-foot-7 England native, led all scorers with 28 points.
The Vikings host Columbia-Greene Community College Thursday at 7 p.m. After that, Hudson Valley travels to Mohawk Valley Community College to play for the overall Mountain Valley Conference title. Mohawk Valley captured the Western Division. The championship game is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 18.
Hudson Valley Community College, located in Troy, offers more than 50 degree and certificate programs in four academic divisions; Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Sciences; and Liberal Arts and Sciences. One of 30 community colleges in the State University of New York system, Hudson Valley has an enrollment of more than 9,000 students each year, and is known as a leader in distance learning initiatives and worker retraining.