Unlike last year, there was no miraculous victory for the Vaughn College Warriors on Saturday.

Leading for large parts of the second half, the Warriors’ shooting went cold in the final eight minutes and they were eliminated from the Hudson Valley Men’s Athletic Conference Tournament, 73-61, by St. Joseph’s College of Brooklyn in the semifinals. The season ended a game too soon, said Coach Amy Mulligan, whose team finished at 12-12.

“They gave it everything they had,” Mulligan said. “We came up a little bit short. We just can’t seem to get past St. Joe’s.”

A year ago, Vaughn staged a furious second-half rally in its tournament semifinal, coming from 20 points down to defeat Albany Pharmacy on its home floor. That advanced the Warriors to the championship game against nemesis St. Joseph’s, which won the title.

The Warriors and Bears were matched a round earlier this year, and early on Saturday it appeared as if St. Joseph’s might cruise to victory. Leading 32-26 at halftime, the Bears increased their lead when Vaughn turned the ball over on its first two possessions of the second half.

However, the Warriors methodically chipped away at St. Joseph’s lead and even took a 51-43 advantage with 8 minutes remaining. But from that point on, Vaughn was outscored, 30-10, done in by eight consecutive missed shots late in the game and 22 turnovers in total.

Vaughn was led by Jason Ramos, who had 17 points. Jerome Chan had 15 and Al-Ameen Kabba 14.

St. Joseph’s will play Berkeley College on Sunday for the championship. Berkeley eliminated Albany Pharmacy in Saturday’s other semifinal.

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The Warriors’ Jerome Chan (No. 15) drives to the basket against St.

Joseph’s yesterday. Below, the Warriors’ Jared Ndiba shoots as

Al-Ameen Kabba (No. 24) and Jihad Ceaser (No. 32) anticipate a rebound.

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