On Saturday afternoon, Mohawk Valley Men's basketball took on the Hudson Valley Vikings in Troy, New York, in their second contest of the young season. 

       As the game began, it was a back and forth affair, as the two traded "punches" for the opening 10 minutes of the contest. The Hawks were able to lead by as many as 9 in the opening minutes but Hudson Valley battled back to take the lead to 4, going into the locker room at the half. 

       Tyruse Boock led the way with 11 first half points, followed by Lateef Johnson who had 6 points and 7 rebounds for the Hawks. Coming out of the locker room, the Hawks began to get into the paint and create for each other, which led to a 10 point lead with 12 minutes remaining in the contest. But the VIkings stormed back. 

       Over the next 8 minutes, despite quality play from the Hawks bench, the Vikings were able to go on a run and take the lead with 2 minutes remaining, leading to a Hawks timeout. 

        In the final two minutes of the contest, trailing by 8, Mohawk Valley's La Fairley drove into the paint and drew two defenders, leading to a Tyruse Boock three point basket to cut the lead to 5. The Hawks pressure picked up, and a tipped pass by Isaiah Earl led to a Lateef Johnson basket to cut the lead to 3 with just 1 minute left in the game. 

        As the game closed down, the Hawks were able to take a 2 point lead with 5 seconds left, as the Vikings took a timeout. Mohawk Valley was able to get a stop on the final possession and get a stop to seal the road victory for the Hawks. 

       Tyruse Boock finished the game with 19 points and 8 rebounds, and Lateef Johnson had 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way for the Hawks. Isaiah Earl and Isaac Williams were also key contributors with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Jaquan Gordon and DeKwan Grant came off the bench to combine for 12 points to help secure the victory for the Hawks. 

"I was happy with how we moved the ball, and took care of it today overall. Those were two areas we have been working on hard over this past week. We have a number of other areas we are going to address this week, and I honestly can't wait to get back on the floor with these guys. But honestly, any win in Region 3 this year is a good win, so we are happy to leave Troy with a victory. The team that wins this region will be the team that improves the most from now until March, and we are going to keep pushing this group every day to become all that it can be in pursuit of that."- Coach Harley Fuller said after the victory.