The No. 2 seeded Berkeley College men's basketball team (20-5 Overall) started its quest for a National title on Thursday afternoon, defeating the No. 10 seeded Nittany Lions of Penn State Fayette (8-17 Overall) by a score of 77-74 in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 USCAA National Basketball Tournament. The contest was played on the campus of Penn State Fayette. With the victory, the Knights advanced to the semifinal round of the bracket, and will take on the No. 6 seeded Fighting Saints of St. Joseph's College (Vermont) on Friday afternoon at 3:00pm. Penn State Fayette will take on Central Penn in the consolation game tomorrow at 10:00am.
Penn State Fayette came into the game following Wednesday evening's impressive 100-86 victory over the No. 7 seed - the University of Maine Machias. The Nittany Lions certainly made things difficult for Berkeley College from the opening tip. The teams exchanged leads seven times in the opening 5:06 of action, with Massiah Merritt's three-point basket giving the Knights the lead - at least for an extended period of time. At that juncture of the action, Berkeley held a 12-10 edge, and eventually built its lead up to 10 points (28-18) with 10:04 remaining in the opening session. The Nittany Lions would own the rest of the session, however, out-scoring the Knights 19-8 while holding Berkeley to only four field goals during that run to take a 37-36 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Both teams continued to battle back-and-forth into the second half, with the squads finding themselves in a 67-all tie with 7:40 remaining in the game. That is when the Knights would take the lead for good when the dependable Kenton Chan-Man would knock-down a three-point basket to put Berkeley College ahead by a score of 70-67. The Knights boosted their lead to six points (75-69) with 2:42 to go, but five straight points by the Nittany Lions pulled Penn State Fayette to within one point - 75-74 - with 1:34 left on the clock. Berkeley's Massiah Merritt and Keenan Langston would split a pair of free throws on back-to-back Knights possessions to give Berkeley a 77-74 advantage with 30 seconds remaining.
A last-gasp three-point attempt by Penn State Fayette's C.J. Gaddis knocked off the rim, and a scramble for the ball ensued, with the rock eventually going out of bounds with just 0.2 seconds remaining on the clock, and possession staying with the Nittany Lions. Penn State Fayette's entry pass was knocked away by Merritt, clinching the victory for Berkeley College.
In the win for the Knights, Berkeley was paced by Stephon Jennings, as he finished with team-highs of 17 points, 12 rebounds, and two blocks. Merritt added 16 points (including three treys) and five carmons, and Keenan Langston posted a double-double with 13 points, 10 boards, six assists, and a game-high three steals. Finally, it was Kenton Chan-Man finalizing his afternoon with 12 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Despite the loss for Penn State Fayette, the Nittany Lions were led by Matt McKenna, as he poured-in a game-high 30 points (11-22 FG) while pulling down 11 rebounds, dishing two assists, and tallying two steals. Also, it was Dierre Jenkins nailing three shots from beyond-the-arc to finish with 13 points, and Luke Williams contributed 11 points, five rebounds, and three helpers.
The Knights shot 44 percent from the floor for the day (33-75) compared to 40.6 percent for Penn State Fayette (28-69), and Berkeley held a 50-41 edge in the rebounding department. The Knights tallied six steals while the Nittany Lions had three, and Penn State Fayette had 16 assists to Berkeley's 11. Both squads kept their turnover total low, with the Nittany Lions committing 11 to the Knights' nine.
The forthcoming match-up with St. Joseph's College of Vermont serves as a rematch of a game the two teams played earlier in the season, when the Knights silenced the Fighting Saints by a score of 79-66 in a Superbowl Sunday matinee game (12:00pm) at the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
To follow the Knights in their quest for National Championships, visit the USCAA website – www.theUSCAA.com. Live statistics, audio, and video streaming will be available for all games by visiting the aforementioned link. Recaps of all Berkeley College contests will be available by the Knights' athletics website at http://berkeleycollegeknights.com.
