The Berkeley College men's basketball team split a pair of games this past weekend, defeating the Moose of the University of Maine at Augusta by a score of 101-90, before turning around a day later and falling to the Lynx of NHTI by a score of 82-77. Both games took place in Concord, New Hampshire, on the campus of NHTI, as part of the Lynx' New Year's Classic. With the output, the Knights are now 6-6 on the 2022-2023 campaign.

In the Knights' victory over the University of Maine at Augusta, Berkeley was paced by Jihadu Brunner's dazzling performance, as the standout connected on 13 of his 17 attempts from the floor, finishing with a game-high 38 points while snatching five rebounds, tallying three assists, and swiping two steals. Karranja Bright (8-11 FG) finished with 20 points, four boards, and four dimes, and Tahshon Moore contributed 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Leading the way for the Moose was Fraser MacDonald, as he converted on 10 of his 11 attempts from the floor, finishing with a team-high 22 points. He also led all players with 11 rebounds. Elijah Smith drilled four shots from downtown, finishing with 21 points and five assists, and Yonas Medu put forth a versatile performance, scoring 19 points, grabbing six rebounds, and five assists.

Berkeley came out on fire in this one, building a 15-3 advantage in the opening 3:51 of the contest. That aforementioned opening spurt included a made trifecta by Combs, a converted layup by Bright, a drained triple by Brunner, a made layup by Kenneth Hines, another drilled triple from Combs, and a bucket from Moore. After a modest 9-5 run by the Moose sliced Berkeley's advantage to eight points (20-12), the Knights and Moose battled back and forth, with Berkeley holding on to a 31-21 advantage with 6:19 remaining in the first half.

Over the final six-plus minutes of the opening stanza, the Knights outscored the University of Maine at Augusta 19-10 to take a commanding 50-31 edge into the locker room at halftime.

The Moose used an 19-7 run over the opening 6:25 of the second half to pull to within seven points points at 57-50, but Berkeley once again responded with a 10-2 spurt to jump back up by 15, 67-52, with 11:57 to go. Brunner netted six of the 10 points during that aforementioned run.

In yet another drastic pendulum swing, the scrappy Moose outscored the Knights 18-6 over the ensuing 3:47 to close to within three (73-70) with 8:10 left. 1:45 later, the University of Maine at Augusta would take the lead. Trailing 76-74, the Moose's Elijah Smith nailed trifecta to put his team up 77-76 with 6:25 remaining in the contest. The teams would exchange the lead three more times, before Berkeley went ahead for good, 80-79, on Bright's converted layup with 5:34 left.

The Knights gradually pulled away after taking the lead for the finally time, outscoring the University of Maine at Augusta 21-11 the rest of the way to capture a grinding victory.

There wasn't much defense played in this one, evidenced by the shooting percentages both squads boasted. Berkeley shot an incredible 60.3 percent from the field (38-63), while the Moose hit on 33 of their 59 attempts from the floor. Both teams misfired on 10 freebees (Berkeley went 19-29, 65.5 percent, and Maine Augusta went 17-27, 63 percent), and the Knights held a slim 54-52 edge in points scored in the paint. The University of Maine at Augusta out-rebounded Berkeley 32-28, while also dishing 23 assists to 18 for the Knights. Berkeley won the turnover battle, committing just 14 miscues, while the Moose had 18.

A day later against NHTI, the Knights came up just short, falling to the hosts, the Lynx, by five. Despite the defeat, Combs put together another gem, leading all players with 25 points (8-14 FG, 6-8 FT). He also snatched seven boards, registered three assists, and added three steals. Hines (8-12 FG) contributed 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Brunner netted 14 points, grabbed five boards, and swiped a game-high four steals. Finally, it was Bright adding 10 points and two rebounds.

Four players scored in double figures for the Lynx, including Anthony Gauthier, who has phenomenal, hitting 10 of his 13 shots (three-for-five from downtown) and scoring a team-high 24 points. He also added three rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals. Sean Riley posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Canty added 12 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals. Finally, it was James Jones Jr. scoring 12 points, snatching six boards, and tallying two assists.

NHTI raced out to a 7-0 lead in the opening 1:14, thanks to a converted layup by Gauthier, and five consecutive points by Jones Jr. The Lynx later led 10-2, but a 7-0 run by the Knights, which featured a trifecta by Combs, and consecutive layups by Bright, pulled Berkeley to within a point at 10-9.

Berkeley trailed by as many as 13 in the opening half (30-17), before pulling to within seven, 45-38, as the teams entered the locker room at halftime.

In the second half, it appeared as though NHTI might start to run away with the game, as the Lynx held a 56-44 edge with 16:40 to go, but Berkeley College continued to play aggressively, putting together a 21-9 run over the ensuing 9:22 to tie the game at 65-apiece. NHTI responded quickly, scoring six consecutive points over the next 68 seconds to go back ahead 71-65 with 6:10 remaining in the game.

Later, the Lynx appeared poised to close out the Knights, leading 78-71 with 41 seconds to go, but Berkeley stuck around, scoring six straight points over a 30 second span (layups by Julio Wallace and Combs, and two converted freebees by Brunner) to pull to within one at 78-77 with 11 ticks left.

With seven seconds to go, NHTI added a pair of free throws to go ahead 80-77, and on Berkeley's next possession, an offensive foul on Combs essentially ended all hope of a Knights comeback.

The Knights connected on 47.5 percent of their field goal attempts for the day (28-59), while NHTI hit on nearly half of its attempts (31-63, 49.2 percent). The Lynx held a slim 34-30 edge on the glass, but dominated in the assist category, piling 25 compared to the Knights' nine. NHTI also narrowly won the turnover battle, committing 16 miscues, while Berkeley had 20.

Berkeley will return to action this weekend, as the Knights play a pair of games against Word of Life (January 14) and Bryant & Stratton-Albany (January 15). Saturday's game is scheduled to begin at 6:00pm, with Sunday's tipoff slated for 4:00pm.