HERKIMER — The Mohawk Valley Community College men’s basketball team held a one-point lead at halftime over top seed Sandhills in the quarterfinals of the NJCAA Division III Championship Thursday afternoon, but fell 92-85, at Herkimer College.

The loss sends the Hawks to the consolation bracket to play at noon Friday against four seed Northern Essex. If they win, they’ll play in the fifth place game at noon Saturday.

MVCC led 33-32 at the half. A three-pointer by Asa Beyah to open the second half pushed the lead to four points. The Flyers tied the game 42-42 with 17 minutes left in the game then slowly stretched the lead. MVCC closed the gap to two with 11:31 left. They trailed by one with 5:30 left in regulation, but that’s the closest the Hawks would get.

Jordan Drain led MV with 18 points. Travis Gray (Henninger) scored 17 and Beyah had 12. Off the bench, the Hawks got 12 points from Isaiah Knight and 11 from Lateef Johnson. Beyah (Thomas R. Proctor High School) and Johnson led the team with seven rebounds each and Drain had a team-best six assists.

Jaquan Thurman had a game-high 19 points for Sandhill.