Men’s Basketball Team Fall in HVIAC Tournament

The Mighty Oaks qualified for the HVIAC post-season conference tournament for only the second time in program history. Coming in as a four seed, ESF faced number one seed and five- time defending champs, Berkeley College in the semifinals.

Despite Berkeley winning the last four straight semifinals games in the tournament by an average of 36 points, ESF gave the Knights a true scare even leading the game by seven with five minutes remaining but ultimately ended up losing, 76-73.

"That is a program on the rise over there," said Berkeley men's basketball head coach Jonathan Pena. "They've truly improved, and they are in the process of building a very competitive team," said Pena.

ESF was led by junior Henry Pflaumer's 28 points off 9-19 shooting, 7-12 behind the three-point arc. Junior Cole Paradies racked up a double-double with 15 points and eleven rebounds. Paradies and fellow junior Zachary Dormer were named to HVIAC All-Conference team.

"It was a great season where we showed a lot of improvement and were competitive in basically every game. Special thanks to our three seniors for all their contributions," said John D'Antonio, men's basketball head coach.

The Mighty Oaks finished their season with a 9-10 overall record. Expectations for next season are already high, as the team hopes to return all five starters along with a crop of talented freshman and rising players.