Men's Basketball Season Ends in Region 3 Semifinals

CONTACT: Adam Sopris, a.sopris@hvcc.edu, 518-629-7898 or 518-416-2137
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Saturday, February 25, 2023

The Hudson Valley Community College men's basketball season ended following a tough 80-71 defeat to top-ranked Mohawk Valley in the NJCAA Region 3 semifinal round in Utica, NY on Saturday afternoon.

The Vikings and Hawks battled all game, which entered the halftime break with Mohawk Valley leading the Vikings 33-31 and then in the second half, both programs scored over 40 points in the half, with the Hawks pulling away late to claim a spot in tomorrow's Region 3 championship game against Fulton-Montgomery.

In the first half of the game, the Vikings were led by their big three of Trevor Green, Jordan Belcher and Demani Benjamin. The trio combined to score 26 of Hudson Valley's 31 first half points. Green went on to finish with a game-high 23 points, which was enough to break the 1,000-career point plateau over his two-years at Hudson Valley.

Green became only the fifth member of the men's basketball program to score 1,000 career points for the Vikings and is the first to do so since Ramel Alexander, who accomplished the feat in 2010. Green officially finishes his career with 1,004 career points, which places him fourth overall on the men's basketball all-time career scoring list.

Benjamin had a strong second half, scoring 10 points to finish the game with 18 total points and Belcher was limited with foul trouble in the second half and scored only two of his 11 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.

Mehki Petteway filled in for Belcher in key moments of the game and finished with a new career-high 11 points as he connected on five field goals and went 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

The men's basketball team falls to 17-10 on the season and will hit the recruiting scene as they will need to fill big shoes as Green, Belcher, Kiefer, Bianchino and Feeney are set to graduate in May.