JOHNSTOWN – Two old rivals, Hudson Valley CC and Fulton-Montgomery CC, met in the Raiders Den on Wednesday evening. Both teams ran and worked the ball well, giving the fans a thrilling game that was not decided until the final seconds. The Raiders prevailed 82-79.
Photo: Raheem Small opens the second half with a three-pointer
Ayodele Akinmola took Marquis Edwards' pass and scored the game's first basket. Jordan Stewart sank a free throw and a three-pointer. Kyle Giddings scored. Edwards sank a three from the left corner. Barceem Dukes scored. Courtney Darnley nailed a three from the left corner. Dondre Davis tallied two, and FM led 24-11 midway through the first half. The Raiders seemed to have control of the game.
The Vikings regrouped and fought to get back into the game. HVCC's Imre Megyeri's free throws closed the gap to 10 points. FM's Raheem Small made a great move to the basket. FM led 30-20, but Viking Brendan Archer sank two from the line and then converted a three-point play, cutting FM's lead to six points.
Hudson Valley was outplaying FM and was leading 41-37 as the half was ending, but FM's Darnley got the ball in the left corner again. Darnley put up a perfect shot that went through the net for three points as the buzzer sounded. HVCC led 41-40 at the break.
Photo: Courtney Darnley sinks a three as first-half time runs out
FM opened the second half with three-pointers by Small and Stewart, but the Vikings came roaring back. A putback by HVCC's Garrett Pitcher tied the game at 46-all, and he quickly added two FTs to give the visitors the lead at 48-46.
The good crowd was seeing a fine, hard-fought game. FM retook the lead 60-57 on a shot from behind the arc by Shaleek Randolph with 9:41 to play. Viking Megyeri sank a three to knot the score at 60-all, but FM's Stewart countered with another three-pointer. Giddings scored, and FM was up 65-60. (See photo at the bottom of this webpage.)
The game was tied again at 68-68 and 70-70. Viking Elijah Newsome put HVCC in front 74-73 with a close-in score. Akinmola regained the lead for FM at 75-74 with a drive through the paint.
Akinmola sank two FT's to give FM an 80-76 lead with 17.1 seconds to play, but the Vikings were not done. Newsome hit another trey for the visitors, and FM led by just one point with 13.3 on the clock. A Dukes rebound, some great defense by the Raiders, and a free throw by Dondre Davis ended the game. FM won it 82-79.
Photo: Ayodele Akinmola scores after taking a breakout pass from Barceem Dukes
FM's record is now 15-11 overall and 9-8 in the conference. The Raiders have just one game left prior to the regionals. They will host the Twins of Columbia-Greene CC in a 1:00 p.m. match in the Raiders Den on Saturday.
C.J. Bonny, website writer
Scoring:
HVCC: Newsome 6-14-29, Deverson 4-0-9, Dahlin 1-0-2, Kaurejo 0-1-1, Archer 4-4-12, Megyeri 4-2-11, Pitcher 5-3-13, Melville 1-0-2; Totals 25-24-79
Three-point goals: 5 (Newsome 3, Deverson, Megyeri)
FMCC: Stewart 6-1-16, Akinmola 3-3-9, Randolph 1-0-3, Darnley 3-0-8, Dukes 3-0-6, Giddings 5-2-12, D. Davis 2-3-8, M. Edwards 4-3-13, Small 3-0-7; Totals 30-12-82
Three-point goals: 10 (Stewart 3, Randolph, Darnley 2, D. Davis, M. Edwards 2, Small)
Halftime: 41-40 HVCC
Records: HVCC 14-13 (6-11), FMCC 15-11 (9-8)
Photo: Kyle Giddings' field goal put FM ahead 65-60
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