The Berkeley College men's basketball team picked up two victories in a pair of road contests this past weekend. On Saturday, January 14th, the Knights dominated HVIAC foe Word of Life, 103-57. A day later, on January 15th, Berkeley outlasted the Bobcats of Bryant & Stratton-Albany, 86-83. With the output, the Knights have now won eight out of 10 games since starting 0-4, improving to 8-6 on the 2022-2023 campaign (3-0 HVIAC). The Huskies fell to 5-9 with the defeat (2-1 HVIAC), and the Bobcats slipped to 9-8.

 

In what was an impressive, balanced effort for the Knights against Word of Life, all seven Berkeley players who competed scored in double figures, including Julio Wallace, who scored a game-high 22 points (10-19 FG) while also adding five dimes and a game-high five steals. Moussa Diaby registered 16 points while grabbing nine rebounds, and Tahshon Moore scored 14 points in 23 minutes off of the bench, also snatching nine boards, registering a game-high six assists, and tallying five steals. Rashid Abdullin scored 14 points and dished out three assists, and Jihadu Brunner, Justyce Coleman, and Kawaya Usungu all produced double-doubles. Brunner finished with 13 points, 12 boards, four steals, and two assists, while Coleman netted 12 points while pulling down a game-high 16 rebounds, tallying five assists, and recording four steals. Kawaya Usungu finalized his day with 12 points, 15 rebounds, and two steals.

 

The Huskies were paced by Jimmy Nguyen, as the youngster connected on seven of his eight free throw attempts, finishing with a team-high 14 points. He also grabbed three rebounds, as well. Matthew Dembinski contributed 12 points while tying for the team-high of five boards, and Micah Stamm added 11 points, connecting on three trifectas in the process.

 

Word of Life held an early 5-4 lead in the opening four minutes against Berkeley, but it was all Knights from there. Diaby's converted layup with 15:22 remaining in the first half put Berkeley ahead for good. The Knights led by as many as 20 points, 39-19, in the opening session, but Word of Life kept things interesting, outscoring Berkeley 13-4 over the final 4:52 of the half to close to within 11, 43-32, as the teams went into the locker room at halftime. 

 

Berkeley completely dominated the second half. The Knights the half on a 16-0 run to increase their edge to 27, 59-32. After the teams scored another five points apiece, Berkeley went on another run, this time a 15-0 spurt, to take a commanding 79-37 lead. From that point on, the Knights would never lead by less than 37 points, eventually going up by as many as 47, before securing a 46-point blowout victory.

 

Leading the way for the Knights in their thrilling victory over the Bobcats was Moore, as he connected on three shots from downtown, and 10 of his 15 attempts from the line, to finish with a team-high 23 points. He also snatched four rebounds and contributed two assists. Brunner (8-14 FG, 4-4 FT) was excellent again, netting 20 points, pulling down six boards, and tallying three assists, and Marc Combs conncted on eight of his 10 attempts from the line to finalize his afternoon with 18 points, six caroms, and two assists. Finally, it was Hines scoring 12 points (5-9 FG) and snatching six boards.

 

Despite the loss for Bryant & Stratton-Albany, Detric Hearst put forth an incredible effort, drilling 10 of his 15 attempts from the floor to finish with a game-high of 29 points. He also snatched four rebounds and tallied two assists. Amari Scott contributed 18 points, snatched four boards, and added three assists, and Rodney Williams connected on all four of his attempts from the floor, and both of his freebees, to finalize his afternoon with 12 points. Finally, it was Denali Burton contributing 11 points, a game-high eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a pair of swatted shots.

 

Neither squad held a double digit lead in the opening half. Berkeley's biggest edge was an eight point advantage, 13-5, 4:39 into the contest. The Bobcats' largest lead was six, 31-25, with 3:39 remaining in the period. The Knights closed out the half on a 12-4 run, taking a slim 37-35 edge into the locker room at halftime.

 

The Knights led by as many as 11 three times in the second half, but Bryant & Stratton-Albany kept things close, slicing Berkeley's lead down to three points with seven seconds remaining. After two rare misses from the line for the Knights, the Bobcats had an opportunity to tie the game, but Hearst's three-point attempt was off the mark, giving Berkeley the dramatic victory.

 

Berkeley will return to action this weekend, as the Knights will take another trip, heading to Clinton College for a 7:30pm contest on Saturday, before turning around the following day to take on Johnson & Wales (NC) at 1:00pm.