Men’s Basketball starts 4-0
Sports Editor
The Hudson Valley Men’s Basketball team started their season off strong last week with a 4-0 start.
The Vikings won their opener on the road at Dutchess on Nov. 4, followed by winning at home on for their next three games against Ulster on Nov 6. (81-70), Cayuga on Nov 8. (83-73), and Onondaga on Nov. 9 (73-67).
“I’m pleased because I still think we can play a lot better,” said head coach Mike Long.
The Vikings opened their season with a comeback victory. After trailing 25-17 at halftime, the Vikings outscored Dutchess 39-26 in the second half to win 56-51.
“We also turned the ball over because we over handled the ball.” said Long.
“We could have held [Cayuga] to 50 points.” said Long.
The Vikings turned the ball over 10 or more times in each of their games. This led to many points on the other end.
“Getting the ball to the open man is something we need to work on.” said Long.
Long referring to missed shots that were defended well, but had an open man during the weekends games.
“We kept letting guys get by us and get to the rim. That’s something we need to work on.” he said.
The Vikings gave up more than 40 of the points in the paint during Saturday’s game.
The Vikings also lost both forward Scott Melville and guard Jon Griggs to leg injuries on Saturday. Both players have yet to be reported how long it will keep them out of play.
“We’ve made mistakes, but the effort is there and that’s the big thing. I am confident that we are going to get better,” said Long.