UTICA – The Mohawk Valley Hawks were flying high with an 11-2 record. The Raiders were in need of a win. FM made the trip through the fog to take on the Hawks on their home hardwood on Saturday and came oh-so-close to stunning the Birds. Close, but MV held on for a 96-93 win.

The Hawks scored first, but Kadeem Stanislas scored from in close, Khaleeq Baum took a pass from Carlos Rivera and tallied, and FM trailed by just a point. Stanislas drained a three, and the game was tied 7-7.

Photo:  Kadeem Stanislas hits for two and a five-point lead

Both teams were running well, but FM was playing better. Kenny Barr sank a free throw and Rivera scored from the floor. FM led 12-9 and was looking like the better team.

The Raiders were rebounding well and were outrunning the Hawks.  Stanislas scored. Rivera scored.  FM led 16-9. Tyrone Davis' two and Dondre Simmons' free throw made it 19-10. The visitors seemed to have plenty of energy and were playing smart basketball. But then the Hawks stepped up their game.

MV closed to within four. FM's Stanislas sank two from the line, and the score was 23-17. The Hawks closed to within two, but Marquis Edwards got a pass from Rivera and made it 25-21.

Photo:  Dondre Simmons is fouled

The final eight minutes of the half took on a different tone.  MV was sharpening their attack, and the Raiders started committing too many fouls. Almost every time that the Hawks attacked, FM fouled them. That proved costly because MV was very sharp from the line. In all, MV sank 32 free throws in 41 attempts for the day.

The Raiders led by five with two minutes left in the half, but the Hawks went to the line twice in the final 24 seconds and earned a 43-42 halftime lead.

The hosts pulled away at the start of the second half, putting 13 unanswered points on the board. 56-42 MV.  FM fought back, but they had a substantial deficit to overcome.

Head Coach Ed Collar's Raiders started chipping away at MV's lead. Rivera scored. Baum scored, then sank a free throw, then took a pass from Tyrone Davis and scored from the floor again. Davis scored, and FM trailed 64-52.

MV went farther ahead. Baum's three-point play closed it to 79-65. Finally, FM started a successful run when Edwards hit for three from the left side. Stanislas and Edwards scored again, and it was 88-83 MV.

Photo:  Kadeem Stanislas scores

Kenny Barr sank two free throws, but FM still trailed 90-85. Stanislas scored a three from the left of center, and FM was behind by three points with 26 seconds left. However, MV went to the foul line two more times and sank three FTs. They led 96-90 when Tyrone Davis nailed a nice three-pointer, ending the game 96-93 in the Hawks' favor.

The bus ride home was a quiet one. The Raiders had come close to upsetting a strong MV team but had fallen just a bit short. They had played a lot of good basketball at MV, and they'll hope to carry that confidence with them as they take on three teams this coming week:  North Country at FM on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Clinton CC at Plattsburgh on Thursday, and Hudson Valley at FM on Saturday afternoon.

                   C.J. Bonny, website writer

Fulton-Montgomery:  Barr 11, Simmons 7, Rivera 10, Edwards 11, Stanislas 26, T. Davis 7, T. Davis 2, Baum 18, Giddiings 1; Total 93

Mohawk Valley:  Branch 4, Faison 6, Rolon 21, Martinez 22, Drexler 5, Mosley 14, Leggett 16, Carr 8; Total 96