The No. 1 seeded Berkeley College Knights won the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title this weekend, as they defeated the No. 4 seeded Mighty Oaks of SUNY-ESF 104-60, before turning back the No. 2 seeded Vikings of Villa Maria earlier today, 68-57. With that output, the Knights won their eighth consecutive regional crown, improving to 19-9 in the process and earning an automatic bid to the USCAA Men's Basketball Division II National Tournament. Villa Maria dipped to 19-9, and will now await word on a possible at-large bid to the USCAA Tourney. SUNY-ESF finalized its season at 7-13 with Saturday's loss. 

 

The Knights have competed in the HVIAC Men's Basketball Tournament for 17 years, and the team has won the championship 14 times, including eight years consecutively. Berkeley has an astounding 29-2 record in the tournament, and has only failed to qualify for the Regional postseason once. Following the successful weekend, Jonathan Pena, who picked up his 100th career victory as Head Coach in Berkeley's triumph over Villa Maria, gave his thoughts.

 

"I basically came into this season with a completely different roster from a season ago," Head Coach Jonathan Pena said. "To have this entirely new, talented group buy into the Berkeley way, the Berkeley culture, and our team-orientated approach, is extremely gratifying, and it's amazing to see us accomplish one of our primary goals. We've won 10 out of 11 games now, and we've really been peaking at the right time. We're three or four victories away from our ultimate goal, which is a National title. This group is hungry to continue its success, and I feel they can accomplish something special."

 

Many felt as though Berkeley drew a tough semifinal round matchup, considering the fact that SUNY-ESF had played Berkeley very tough since the start of the 2019-2020 season. Despite the Mighty Oaks going 0-4 against the Knights since then, SUNY-ESF had only lost those four contests by a combined 24 points. Saturday, however, was a much different story, as Berkeley dominated from the opening tip, and the Mighty Oaks never had a chance.

 

Six players scored in double figures for the Knights, including Julio Wallace, as he netted a game-high 17 points while snatching five rebounds and swiping two steals in 21 minutes of action. Rashid Abdullin netted 15 points, and Marc Combs and Jihadu Brunner netted 14 points apiece, with Combs also contributing seven rebounds, three dimes, and two steals, and Brunner snatching four boards. Malach Faison scored 12 points while collecting three boards, and Tahshon Moore put together a fine all-around performance, scoring 10 points, snatching six boards, dishing a game-high five assists, and tallying three steals.

 

For SUNY-ESF, Reid Patchett led the way with a team-high 15 points. No other player scored in double figures for the Mighty Oaks, as Nate McCarthy and Keif Timmins netted nine points apiece. Christian Rossi, who completely dominated the Knights seven days ago with 27 points, was held to five points on one-for-six shooting.

 

The Knights jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead 62 seconds into the game thanks to a pair of converted free throws by Combs, and a made trifecta by Brunner. Berkeley later held a 20-10 lead with 12:07 left in the half, before putting some serious distance between itself and the No. 4 seeded-Mighty Oaks, as the Knights went on a 16-1 run over a span of 2:32 to take a commanding 36-11 lead. After SUNY-ESF scored four consecutive points to make it 36-15, Berkeley outscored the competition 17-8 for the rest of the half to take a 53-23 edge into the locker room at halftime.

 

The Knights spent most of the second half gradually building its lead, eventually taking its biggest edge, 96-44, with 7:44 to go in the game. Berkeley ended up outscoring SUNY-ESF 51-37 in the final session to account for the 44-point blowout victory.

 

Berkeley converted on 52.5 percent of its shots from the floor (42-80), while SUNY-ESF was only able to sink 19 field goals for the game 919-67, 28.4 percent). The Knights held a ridiculous 59-32 edge on the glass, while also dishing 23 assists to the Mighty Oaks' 10. Berkeley dominated the paint with 62 points there (compared to SUNY-ESF's 20), and the Mighty Oaks won the turnover battle, committing 22 miscues, while the Knights had 26. 

 

In the Knights' HVIAC title game victory over Villa Maria, Berkeley won the game despite only having one player score in double figures. That player was Combs, as he scored a game-high 20 points, connecting on three trifectas in the process. He also collected a pair of rebounds, and swiped two steals. He was tabbed the tournament Most Valuable Player following the game. In addition, Brunner and Moore scored nine points apiece, with Brunner pulling down four boards, and Moore snatching three rebounds. Kenneth Hines netted eight points and seven rebounds, and Faison led all players with 10 rebounds.

 

For the Vikings, Master Radford scored a team-high 16 points while snatching seven boards, and Jeriah Williams netted 12 points, grabbed four rebounds, and added two steals. Rhalon Bragg scored 11 points, swiped a game-high four steals, collected three rebounds, and dished three assists, and Nolan Shephard scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds, piled three dimes, and picked up a pair of steals.

 

The Knights held a 20-10 lead early, but the Vikings stormed back to outscore Berkeley 24-11 over the final 12:20 of the first half to take a 34-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.

 

Berkeley absolutely dominated the second half of play. The Knights, holding a modest 51-46 advantage with 8:01 remaining, put together a 12-2 run over the ensuing 4:32 to take a commanding 63-48 edge with just 3:29 left. The closest Villa Maria would get from that point forward is 11 points down, and the Knights ended up slamming the door, defeating the No. 2 seeded Vikings by 11.

 

The Knights ended up outscoring Villa Maria 37-23 in the second half, allowing just nine Vikings field goals for the session. Ratford accounted for four of those nine, with the rest of the team only mustering five.

 

For the game, Berkeley's shooting percentage was stellar, as the Knights converted on 48.2 percent of their attempts from the floor (27-56), while Villa Maria hit on just 37.1 percent of its shots (23-62). Berkeley held a healthy 44-34 edge on the glass, while also dishing 11 assists to Villa Maria's nine. The Vikings did win the turnover battle, committing just 15 miscues, while Berkeley had 19. Both teams shot 7-15 from the free throw line (46.7 percent).

 

With the victory, the Knights have received an automatic bid to the 2022-2023 USCAA Division II National Men's Basketball Tournament. Berkeley College will have an opportunity to win its first National crown since the 2017-2018 season. The Knights will learn who their opponent/potential opponents will be during the USCAA Division II selection show, which will air on Sunday, March 5th, at 5:30pm. For the latest information on Berkeley College's quest for another USCAA championship, keep it posted to berkeleycollegeknights.com and/or theuscaa.com.