Herkimer College heads into holiday with pair of basketball wins against MVCC

HERKIMER – Herkimer College’s men and women entered their Thanksgiving break with basketball wins over Mohawk Valley Community College on Sunday afternoon.

The Herkimer women (6-2) snapped a two-game losing streak with an 88-44 victory over the Hawks in Sunday’s first game and the men shook off another challenge to their No. 1 national Division III ranking with a 70-68 victory.

Herkimer’s unbeaten Generals (7-0) had moved to the top of the NJCAA men’s rankings at the start of the week and had already gone overtime Thursday in a 68-58 win at Jefferson Community College. They took the lead Sunday on a Shykell Brown three-pointer as time ran out at the end of the first half. Mohawk Valley (4-2) tied the score at 29 with the first basket of the second half but never regained the lead.

Herkimer followed that first Mohawk basket with eight straight points to start the second half. Brown, who had scored the final five points of the first half, scored five more in the spurt to start the second and put the Generals up by 10 points for the first time when another three made the score 44-34.

A layup and free throw by Keyshawn Miller made the Herkimer lead 53-42 3½ minutes later but the margin would never exceed 11 points. The Generals went without a field goal while Mohawk Valley (4-2) cut its deficit from 55-44 to 57-54, and two more baskets by the Hawks cut the Herkimer lead to one point as Zahkir Faircloth completed a three-point play with 4:13 left to play.

A three-pointer by Jayson Delgado brought Mohawk Valley back to within two points after Herkimer had extended its lead to five with two minutes remaining. The Hawks got the ball back and Travis Gray was called for a charge on a drive to the basket with a chance to tie the score.

Brown hit two free throws for Herkimer and a three-point shot by Gray, his seventh of the game, made the score 69-68 with six seconds on the clock. Brown was fouled again and made one of two free throws, and after a timeout Miller sealed the win with a steal at midcourt.

Brown led Herkimer with 28 points while Miller had 10 points, six rebound and six steals, and Jayden Stephens had 10 points and seven rebounds. Zyeir Lawrence added eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Gray had 33 points and 14 rebounds to lead Mohawk Valley. Chalik Oxley added seven points and 12 rebounds for the Hawks who outrebounded the Generals 54-36.

Sunday’s win followed a 76-56 win Saturday at SUNY Broome. Herkimer had previously beaten Tompkins Cortland Community College by two points Nov. 9.

Thursday’s game was tied at 54 at the end of regulation before Herkimer outscored Jefferson 14-4 in overtime. Brown scored 21 points, Stephens added 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Miller had nine points, seven rebounds and six steals.

Chris Volo led the Generals with 17 points and 12 rebounds against Broome. Brown added 16 points and Miller scored 10.

Herkimer women win

Herkimer College raced out to a 14-point lead in the first quarter Sunday on the way to an 88-44 win over the Mohawk Valley Community College Hawks.

Herkimer’s Generals had been ranked 10th in NJCAA Division III at the start of the week before losing 79-73 at No. 12 Jefferson Community College Thursday and 68-64 at SUNY-Broome Saturday.

Kapri Bradshaw scored 29 points Sunday and added eight rebounds and six steals in the Generals’ first game against former coach Gabe Coffey. Jenna Faulkner added 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocked shots, and Nazjae Howard had nine points and 18 rebounds. Ajla Sedjic, a freshman who played for Coffey at Utica’s Notre Dame High School, had nine points on three three-pointers, and Canajoharie High School graduate Monica Hartlieb added three threes off the bench. Alexis Upson from Central Valley Academy hit all three of her shots off the bench and contributed four rebounds.

Lonnie Wadsworth scored 12 points to lead Mohawk Valley (1-5). Lesly Arzu-Colon added 10 while Rachael Yardley, another Central Valley Academy graduate, and Franchesca Loconti each had nine.

Coffey left Herkimer to take the Notre Dame job in August 2020 and coached one season at the high school level before she was hired at Mohawk Valley in September. No replacement was named at Herkimer for the 2020-21 basketball season, which was canceled during the coronavirus pandemic; the hiring of Matt Hazzard was announced in March.

The Generals fell out of the NJCAA women’s rankings in Monday’s weekly release.

Sunday’s game was the first of five consecutive home games for the Herkimer women to end the fall semester. Herkimer hosts doubleheaders against SUNY Adirondack pn Dec. 1 and Onondaga Community College on Dec. 4. The women also have games in Herkimer against Bryant & Stratton College on Dec. 8 and Jefferson Community College on Dec. 9 while the men finish the semester with a Dec. 8 game at Monroe Community College.

Mohawk Valley plays at SUNY Broome on Dec. 1. The men host Ulster Community College Dec. 4 and travel to Columbia-Greene Community College Dec. 7; they next play at home in Utica as part of a Dec. 10 doubleheader against Cayuga Community College.

Men

HERKIMER COLLEGE 70, MOHAWK VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 68

MOHAWK VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE (4-2) – Jayson Delgado 1 3-4 6; Travis Gray 10 6-7 33; Keaton Goldsby 1 2-4 5; Zay Knight 1 0-0 2; Chalik Oxley 3 1-2 7; Jonathan Codrington 3 0-0 6; Woll Woll 2 1-2 5; Zahkir Faircloth 2 0-1 4. Totals: 23 13-20 68.

HERKIMER COLLEGE (7-0) – Tavon Bates 3 1-2 8; Jayden Stephens 3 4-5 10; Shykell Brown 7 9-11 28; Keyshawn Miller 3 3-5 10; Eddy Pena 1 0-0 2; Zyeir Lawrence 2 4-6 8; John Harrison 0 0-0 0; Chris Volo 1 2-5 4. Totals: 20 23-34 70.

Halftime – Herkimer College 29, Mohawk Valley Community College 27. Three-pointers – Mohawk Valley Community College 9 (Gray 7, Delgado 1, Goldsby 1); Herkimer College 7 (Brown 5, Bates 1, Miller 1).

Women

HERKIMER COLLEGE 88, MOHAWK VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 44

MOHAWK VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE (1-5) – Lonnie Wadsworth 3 4-4 12; Lesly Arzu-Colon 2 5-7 10; Rachel Yardley 3 2-4 9; Kelly Crouch 0 0-2 0; Amanda Sweet 2 0-2 4; Franchesca Loconti 3 1-2 9; Valerie Rivas-Gonzalez 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 12-21 44.

HERKIMER COLLEGE (6-2) – Kapri Bradshaw 13 1-2 29; Ajla Sedjic 3 0-0 9; Jenna Faulkner 9 0-0 18; Nazjae Howard 4 1-2 9; Lynn Wright 0 0-0 0; Monica Hartlieb 3 0-0 9; Alexandra Mosqueda 3 0-0 8; Taylor Smith 0 0-0 0; Alexis Upson 3 0-0 6. Totals: 38 2-4 88.

Mohawk Valley CC 9 12 12 11 – 44

Herkimer College 23 19 24 22 – 88

Three-pointers – Mohawk Valley Community College 6 (Loconti 2, Wadsworth 2, Arzu-Colon 1, Yardley 1); Herkimer College 10 (Hartlieb 3, Sedjic 3, Bradsahw 2, Mosqueda 2).

Jon Rathbun is a sportswriter for the Times Telegram. Email Jon at sports@timestelegram.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: Herkimer College heads into holiday with basketball wins against MVCC