CONTACT: Lawrence Snyder, (518) 629-7898, l.snyder2@hvcc.edu
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Tuesday, February 28, 2017
The No. 8 Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball team (18-11) lost to No. 1 Onondaga Community College (27-4) 97-95 on Tuesday evening in the Sub Regional game.
Mid-way through the first half, John Palmer (Columbia/East Greenbush) hit a long jump-shot, to tie the game at 25 with 10 minutes left in the half. The Lazers quickly responded with three straight three-pointers to go on a 9-0 run, causing the Vikings to take a time-out.
Hudson Valley regained momentum in the final minutes of the half, closing the gap to five points as they headed into the locker-room.
The score remained close during most of the second half, as neither team could maintain a substantial lead. With less than a minute on the clock and the Vikings trailing by four, Hudson Valley ran an inbound perfectly resulting in a quick basket, putting them within two points of Onondaga.
After a timeout, Onondaga ran their offense using up the entire shot-clock before getting a shot off. With 13 seconds remaining, the Lazers shot hit the front of the rim and hit a Hudson Valley player before going out-of-bounds.
As the Lazers inbounded the ball, Hudson Valley quickly fouled, which sent the Onondaga player to the foul line. He made the first free-throw and missed the second. The missed free-throw was rebounded by the Lazers, and was followed by another Hudson Valley foul.
The Lazer at the foul-line missed the first and made the second, putting Onondaga up 96-92 with 9.7 seconds remaining. As the Vikings pushed the ball up the court and pulled within one point after Kevin Lenehan (Duanesburg/Delanson) hit a shot beyond the arch with 1.2 seconds remaining. The Lazers tried to inbound the ball quickly, but had to call a time-out before a five-second violation.
After the time-out Onondaga was able to get the ball in play before the Vikings fouled with a half-second remaining. Onondaga made one out of two free-throws, but didn't matter as the Vikings could not beat the buzzer in their final attempt.
Elijah Lott (Columbia/East Greenbush) led the Vikings with 22 points. Also scoring in double-digits for Hudson Valley was Lenehan with 19, J. Palmer with 14, and Dave Reo (Catholic Central/North Greenbush) added 13 in the loss.