For the fourth time in the past five seasons, the Berkeley College men's basketball team has won the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Regular Season title, as the Knights achieved that by defeating the Bears of St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn by a score of 77-68 at the Hill Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the victory, the Knights finalized their regular season 17-5 overall, and a perfect 6-0 in HVIAC play. With the loss, the Bears dipped to 16-8 overall and 4-1 in league action.
Berkeley's unblemished record in HVIAC contests means the Knights will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, and their opponent is to-be-determined. St. Joseph's can clinch the No. 2 seed in the tournament by defeating the Panthers of Albany College of Pharmacy on Saturday afternoon. Should the Bears lose that contest, they'll be the No. 3 seed in the tourney.
In the victory for the Knights, Berkeley was paced by veteran Keenan Langston, as the standout drained 10 of his 19 attempts from the floor – including three triples – while netting 29 points on the evening. He also connected on all six of his attempts from the charity stripe, grabbed eight rebounds, and tallied three assists. Senior Kenton Chan-Man scored a game-high 31 points, and Stephon Jennings contributed eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.
It was a very competitive opening period featuring three ties and eight lead changes, with neither the Knights or the Bears grabbing a lead of bigger than seven points. Langston's three-point basket at the 12:34 mark gave Berkeley a 19-12 advantage, but St. Joseph's responded with a 7-0 run in a span of just 2:02 to tie the game at 19 apiece.
Richard DiPuma's triple with 8:28 remaining in the half gave St. Joseph's a 28-23 lead, but a 10-4 Knights run over the ensuing 5:07 put Berkeley out in front again by a score of 33-32. The Bears would finish the half strong, going on a 7-2 run to head into the locker room with a 39-35 advantage.
In the second stanza, Berkeley College found itself trailing 47-42 before a 7-0 run at the midway point of the period catapulted the Knights to a two-point edge at 49-47. Then – with just over 6:00 remaining in the game – Langston drained two free throws to give the Knights their biggest lead of the evening – a 66-54 edge. St. Joseph's College's Matt O'Neill kept the Bears in the contest, draining a pair from long range to cut the deficit in half.
The Bears continued to battle back and make things interesting as the second half progressed. A pair of converted freebees by David Louison made it a one-possession contest (71-68) with just less than two minutes remaining in the game. The Knights held St. Joseph's scoreless the rest of the way, though, eventually holding on to win the game by nine points.
Both teams committed 19 turnovers apiece, and the Knights out-rebounded St. Joseph's College by a wide margin – 47-34.
Despite the loss for St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn, Louison recorded team highs in points with 16 and rebounds with 12. O'Neill netted 16 points on a pair of triples in addition to two assists and three steals. Alec Willis and Richard DiPuma scored 11 points apiece off the bench. Finally, it was Vernon Maddox recording in six points and a pair of assists.
The 2014-2015 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament begins on Saturday afternoon, February 21. All games will be played on the campus of Albany College of Pharmacy. The No. 1 seeded Knights will play the 2:00pm game that day. For all of the latest information on the Knights' pursuit of a HVIAC championship, keep it posted to www.berkeleycollegeknights.com.
