Columbia-Greene Shoots Down Hudson Valley

CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, February 17, 2005

Photo Gallery Available

The Hudson Valley Community College (14-12/13-11 Region III) men's basketball team suffered an 81-78 setback to Columbia-Greene Community College (16-7/12-7 Region III) earlier tonight in Troy.

It was the final regular season home game for Hudson Valley, which shot only 37.9 percent (25-for-66) from the floor. Meanwhile, the Twins hit 29 of 50 field goal attempts (58 percent).

Columbia-Greene opened the second half with a 13-3 run to stretch a 34-32 halftime lead to 47-35 with 13:40 remaining in the game. The Vikings hit only one of their first 13 shots of the second half.

The Twins still had a double-digit advantage, 67-55, with five minutes remaining in the game. An 11-4 spurt by Hudson Valley cut the deficit to 71-66.

Hudson Valley closed to within a point, 79-78, on a bucket by sophomore guard Aric Kucel (Gloversville/Gloversville High School) with 29 seconds in the game. Two free throws by freshman Isiah Heard (Hudson/Hudson High School) pushed the Twins' advantage to 81-78 with 23 seconds remaining, and a final three-point attempt bounced in and out for the Vikings at the buzzer.

Heard had 17 points and eight rebounds for Columbia-Greene. Sophomore forward Bobby Pandy (Queens/Newtown High School) added 17 points and seven boards, and sophomore guard James Brown III (Harlem/All Hallows High School) contributed 15 points and seven assists.

Sophomore forward Ryan Livingston (Bethlehem/LaSalle Institute) had 23 points, 12 rebounds and four steals to lead the Vikings. Kucel and sophomore forward Maurice Frye (Middletown/Middletown High School) contributed 15 points, and freshman forward Mike Collopy (Averill Park/Averill Park High School) chipped in 14 points.

Hudson Valley will travel to Schenectady County Community College on Wednesday, February 23. The game is set to start at 7 p.m.

Columbia-Greene (81): Sam Alston 2-3-7, Isiah Heard 5-7-17, Bobby Pandy 7-3-17, James Brown 5-6-16, Nick Lopez 6-3-15, Larry Farrell 4-0-8, Sean Morrison 0-1-1, Totals: 29-23-81.

Hudson Valley (78): Mike Collopy 3-8-14, Marlon Sousis 2-2-7, Aric Kucel 4-4-15, Maurice Frye 5-2-15, Khylan Hunt 1-0-2, Ryan Livingston 9-5-23, Jonathan Steinbiss 1-0-2, Totals: 25-21-78.

Halftime: Columbia-Greene, 34-32.

3-point goals: Hudson Valley 7 (Kucel 3, Frye 3, Sousis)