CONTACT: Steve Mullen (518) 629-8063
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball team shot just 34.6 percent (28-for-81) from the floor in a 96-73 loss to Clinton Community College (19-12) in the opening round of the NJCAA Region III Division III tournament tonight in Troy.
Clinton shot 51.4 percent (37-for-72) from the field, many of which came in the paint from its post players. Region III Player of the Year Phillip Barnes (Caymen Islands) finished with 25 points and freshman forward Kyle Stark (Plattsburgh) finished with 24 points to pace the Cougars.
Freshman guards Justin Gallo (Brunswick/Lansingburgh High School) and Ryne Luce (Cohoes/Cohoes High School) each finished with 17 points to pace the Vikings. Sophomore guard Maurice Lane (Bakersfield, Ca/West High School) added 14 points.
Clinton, the tournament's 11th seed, led 20-19 midway through the first half before closing the half on a 27-9 spurt. Trailing by 19 at halftime, sixth-seeded Hudson Valley scored the first seven points of the second half but could not get any closer.
Hudson Valley finished the year with a 21-10 record, which are the most wins for the Vikings since the 2000-2001 season.
CLINTON 96, HUDSON VALLEY 73
Clinton (96): Ryan Earle 5-2-13, Nick Darrah 5-1-11, Trevor Secore 1-0-2, Matt Daunais 2-0-4, Travis Secore 1-0-2, Mark Stankovich 1-0-2, Kyle Stark 9-4-24, Phillip Barnes 9-6-25, Mario Lopez 4-5-13, Totals: 37-18-96.
Hudson Valley (73): Justin Gallo 7-2-17, Rocco DiJohn 1-0-2, Ryne Luce 6-0-17, Mike Canape 1-1-3, Derick Faragon 1-0-2, Maurice Lane 4-5-14, Zach Bye 4-0-9, Corey Harkins 2-0-4, Kevin Goutos 2-1-5, Totals: 28-9-73.
Three-point goals: Clinton 4 (Earle, Stark 2, Barnes); Hudson Valley 8 (Gallo, Luce 5, Lane, Bye)
Halftime: Clinton led 47-28