Men's Basketball Advances to Semifinals; Sweeps Herkimer

Men's Basketball Advances to Semifinals; Sweeps Herkimer
February 22, 2023

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, February 22, 2023

The Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball team advanced to the NJCAA Region 3 semifinal round following their home win over rival, Herkimer, 80-67 at the McDonough Sports Complex at HVCC on Wednesday evening.

For the second time in the last three seasons, the men's basketball program reached the NJCAA Region 3 Final Four weekend and will take on top-seeded Mohawk Valley, winners of 19-straight games, which includes tonight's 85-42 win over Tompkins Cortland.

The Vikings were led by their leading scorer and NJCAA Region 3 Player of the Year candidate, Trevor Green (Troy/Lansingburgh), who finished the game with a game-best 30 points and eight rebounds, as Hudson Valley accomplished a feat that has not happened in the recent history of the program by defeating Herkimer three times in a single season. Green reached the 30-point plateau for the five time this season and is currently averaging 21.7 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Josh Kiefer (Coxsackie/Coxsackie-Athens) had a big game for Hudson Valley as he finished with a career-high 12 points, which included 3-of-6 from three-point range. Kiefer is the team's fourth-leading scorer since he permanently entered the starting lineup over the last 14 games, scoring 91 total points (6.5 PPG), behind Green, Belcher and Benjamin. Kiefer drilled critical corner three-point jumpers in the game to help keep the Generals comeback efforts at bay and helped secure a semifinal appearance. Kiefer is shooting a team-best 41-percent from behind the three-point arc during the 14-game span.

Demani Benjamin (Albany/Green Tech) played 35 minutes tonight and scored 14 points with three rebounds, six assists and two steals. Jourdan Belcher added nine points and seven rebounds, including a huge backboard shaking blocked shot late in the game, kick-starting a Vikings fast-break opportunity.

The men's basketball program will travel to Mohawk Valley this Saturday, Feb. 25 for a rubber-match with the nationally-ranked Hawks at 3 p.m. in Utica, NY.