Men's Basketball's Late Game Scoreless Drought Lifts Mohawk Valley over Vikings 67-62

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Thursday, January 18, 2018

Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball (4-11) experienced a late game scoring drought as No.6 Mohawk Valley Community College came back to defeat the Vikings 67-62 on Thursday evening at the McDonough Sports Complex.

Raheem Duncan (Queens/Green Tech) scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the first half of play, including eight of the Vikings first 16 points of the game. Hudson Valley trailed Mohawk Valley 37-34 at the half.

In the second half, the Vikings came out of the gate strong to recapture the lead from the Hawks. Hudson Valley led by as many as eight points with under 10 minutes remaining in the game. Dave Reo (North Greenbush/Catholic Central) and Duncan score on back-to-back possessions to help the Vikings keep pace with the Hawks late in the game. The Vikings and Hawks were tied at 58-58 with under five minutes left in the game.

Reo finished the game with 12 points, including 10 points in the second half. Reo was instrumental in helping the Vikings regain the lead in the second half and swing the momentum in favor of Hudson Valley.

Then the Vikings scoring drought hit and they were held scoreless for nearly five minutes. Sean Degraffenreid (Glenville/Scotia-Glenville) ended the scoring drought when he nailed a corner three that was set up out of a baseline inbound set. Degraffenreid's bucket pulled the game back to a one possession game as the Vikings trailed 63-61 with 1:13 remaining.

Mohawk Valley went on to cause a pair of turnovers and converted their opportunities and closed out the Vikings 67-62, giving the Vikings their fifth straight lose.

The Vikings will now hit the road this weekend as they travel to face Fulton-Montgomery this Saturday, Jan. 20 at 3 p.m.