Box Score (Newark, NJ) - Freshman Elijah Gonzalez (Bronx, NY/Winston-Salem HS) notched his first career double-double, scoring a career-high 14 points and adding 11 rebounds, and fellow freshman Thomas Hoffman (Bronx, NY/Cardinal Hayes) added 13 points, as the Westchester Community College Men's Basketball team opened the 2022 portion of their schedule with a 78-66 win over Essex County College on Thursday night at Essex CC.

With the win, the Vikings are now 8-5 for the 2021-2022 season. 

After ending 2021 having lost four of their last five games, including a 79-72 setback to the Wolverines at home on Dec. 14, the Vikings never trailed during one of their most complete games of the season, leading by 15 points at halftime, and never looking back. Essex made it a 43-39 game with 15:41 to play, but Westchester pulled away, extending the lead to 70-55 with 3:13 remaining in the game. 

The Vikings grabbed a season-high 65 rebounds, including 16 by freshman Jonathan Blumrick (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Heights HS), and 11 by freshman Omar Nkonde (New York, NY/Thurgood Marshall Academy)

Freshman Nokio Kennedy (Yonkers, NY/Palisade Prep) added 12 points, while freshman Camryn Reyes (Bronx, NY/Bull City Prep) added 10 points. 

Westchester Community College returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when the Vikings travel to ASA College for a 1:00 p.m. start.