The Berkeley College men's basketball team solidified the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament on Wednesday evening by defeating the Warriors of Vaughn College by a score of 86-63 at the Wellness Center on the campus of the College of New Rochelle. The Knights have now won 16 consecutive games (16-1), and also own an unblemished 6-0 record in conference play. With the defeat, the Warriors slipped 13-5 on the 2015-2016 campaign, and 6-1 in conference action. Vaughn will now enter the conference tournament later this month as the No. 2 seed.
Veteran Massiah Merritt led the way for Berkeley College, as the standout connected on four three-point baskets, and converted on eight of his 12 attempts from the floor to finalize his evening with a game-high 20 points. He also was the contest's leader in assists with nine and steals with four, and he also grabbed a pair of rebounds as well. Stephon Jennings posted a double-double, netting 13 points while snatching 10 caroms, and Keenan Langston and Malik Brown scored 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Following the victory, Head Coach Chris Christiansen gave his thoughts.
"Our guys knew what was on the line coming into this game and although it took us a half to hit our stride, I was very encouraged with what I saw in the final 20 minutes of play," Christiansen said. "This group has the ability to switch gears and swing momentum once the second half begins, and they've been proving it all season long. It's not an ideal formula, but it seems to be the script for many of our victories. Tonight was a complete team effort, and I'm proud of our guys. We have a very big weekend coming up with games against SUNY-ESF and Alfred State, so we'll enjoy this one tonight and then get back to work tomorrow."
The Knights raced out to an early 7-0 lead in the opening 3:13 of the game thanks to a basket by Merritt, another by Tasheen Carrow, and then a trey by Merritt. Later – Berkeley built a 10 point lead at 18-8, but Vaughn College kept things interesting, putting together a modest 8-2 run to pull to within four points at 20-16 with 8:11 remaining in the opening session. The Knights twice built their lead back to nine points (25-16 and later 33-24) before eventually heading into the locker room with a six point lead, 36-30.
The second half of the game was owned by the Knights. Berkeley College started to pull away from Vaughn during a 2:51 span that saw the Knights go on a 14-0 run that turned a 48-38 lead into a 62-38 advantage with 11:57 remaining in the contest. Berkeley eventually built its lead up to 29 points before going on to capture the victory by 23.
Both teams shot the basketball well, with the Knights converting 49.3 percent of their attempts from the floor (34-69), and the Warriors hitting on 47.4 percent of theirs (27-57). Berkeley held a modest 37-31 edge on the glass, and the Knights also won the turnover battle, committing 21 miscues while forcing 27 opposition mistakes. Berkeley also shared the ball well, recording 24 assists as a team, while Vaughn collected 16.
Despite the loss for the Warriors, Michael Pena led the way for his team, posting team-highs in points with 16 and assists with seven. He also recorded a game-high five steals while grabbing six rebounds. Joshua Colome added 16 points, and Jalomar Ryan finalized his evening with 10 points and five rebounds.
The Knights will return to action on Saturday afternoon as Berkeley will take to the road to battle SUNY-ESF in its final Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest of the year. Start-time for that game is scheduled for 1:00pm.
