The Vaughn College Warriors clinched their second consecutive berth in the Hudson Valley Men’s Athletic Conference postseason tournament with a hard-fought 69-66 win over Albany College of Pharmacy Monday night (February 7) in Albany. The win improved Vaughn to 11-11 overall, but more importantly 4-2 in the HVMAC.

A 74-45 victory over Pratt Institute last week inched the Warriors closer to the postseason, but the possibility of a three-team tie with Culinary Institute and Pratt left Vaughn unable to clinch. Instead, the Warriors clinched in their final regular-season league game of the year, sparked by 21 points and 16 rebounds from Mahdi Macbahi. Jihad Ceasar added 20 points and Jason Ramos secured the win with a pair of free throws with 3.6 seconds remaining.

Playoff matchups are undetermined, but Vaughn will play a semifinal game on Saturday, February 19. The championship game will follow Sunday, February 20; all games are played at the College of New Rochelle.

The win helped the Warriors overcome a disappointing 80-72 loss to playoff-bound Berkeley College in their initial clinching opportunity on Saturday.

The Warriors led Berkeley by as many as six points in the first half, but Berkeley responded to take a three-point halftime lead. Vaughn had four players in double figures, including sophomore Al-Ameen Kabba, who had 21 points, and Macbahi, who had 19.