The Columbia-Greene men’s basketball losing streak continued on Thursday as nationally ranked Hudson Valley came to the Twins’ campus and defeated C-GCC 82-38. Former Twin Dalton Austin-Michaud scored 12 points in the win for Hudson Valley, while his brother, former Ichabod Crane standout Ian Austin-Michaud, added 9.
Hudson Valley got off to a quick start, jumping out to an early 6-0 lead, before Robert Dunn got the Twins on the board with a driving layup. After another HVCC score, Twins freshman Eli Tillerson drove to the hoop, drew fouls on consecutive possessions, and converted three out of four free throws as Columbia Greene tried to claw their way out of an early hole. Hudson Valley showed why they are the top-ranked team in the region by firing off a 6-0 run. A Jimmy Boyles bucket down low off a pretty feed by Tillerson cut the deficit to 7 less than eight minutes into the game, but that was as close as the Twins would get it.
John Rowlands came off the bench to score 5 points in the first half for the Twins, but that was not enough to get them back in the game. Dalton Austin-Michaud hit back-to-back pull-up jumpers late in the half as Hudson Valley continued to extend its lead. Heading into the half, the Vikings were already up 42-19.
Despite the lopsided score, the Twins coaching staff urged their team to keep fighting, and they did just that. Although they were not able to close the gap against a very talented Vikings squad, C-GCC kept fighting. Kamal Ramos, after being held scoreless in the first half, put in all of his 7 points in the second half, while Dunn added 5 to his total.
Midway through the second half, Ian Austin-Michaud scored down low twice off nice passes from his brother as Hudson Valley cruised to the win. Hudson Valley closed the game on an 8-2 run to finish with a 44-point lead.
Dalton Austin-Michaud added 3 assists and 2 rebounds to go with his 12 points, while Ian Austin-Michaud chipped in 4 rebounds and a steal to go with his 9 points. Big man Pat Barnes gave C-GCC problems with his offensive rebounding and his range on a jump shot, scoring 13 points—all in the first half. Explosive six-foot guard Ramel Alexander scored a game-high 15 points, including a big-time first-half dunk, while Cameron Couball and Garrett Bishop scored 7 and 6 respectively.
For the Twins, Dunn finished with 9 points, while Ramos added 7. Both Tillerson and Rowlands finished with 5 points each. The normally high-scoring Tillerson was harassed into a 1-12 shooting game by Ian Austin-Michaud.
Columbia-Greene has just three games left on their schedule, starting with a Tuesday home stand against Clinton and followed up with a home game against Word of Life. The Twins close out their season the following Saturday with a road trip to SUNY Delhi.
