The Berkeley College men's basketball team is one victory away from its second consecutive Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship – and eighth in program history – after defeating the Mighty Oaks of SUNY-ESF by a score of 84-62 in the semifinals on Saturday afternoon at the College of New Rochelle. The Knights – who entered the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, recorded their 20th consecutive victory to improve to 20-1 on the year. SUNY-ESF – the No. 4 seed – finalized its 2015-2016 campaign at 7-14 with the defeat.
The Knights were paced by Massiah Merritt, as the standout recorded a game-high 19 points to go along with four assists and three steals. Additionally, it was Johnnie Green posting a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Dondre Simmons finalized his afternoon with 12 points as well. Following the win, Head Coach Chris Christiansen gave his thoughts.
"Our student-athletes are very much aware of what is on the line for us this weekend, and today we showed it by exemplifying intensity from the opening tap," Christiansen said. "I felt we did a terrific job of forcing turnovers and getting to the three throw line. We played very cohesively today, and we'll need to do the same thing tomorrow against a very feisty and focused Vaughn College team. We're looking forward to it.
Berkeley College raced out to an 11-2 advantage during the opening 3:30 of the contest, and eventually held a lead as big as 29 points (46-17) before entering the locker room with a 25-point edge. In the second half, the Knights never let SUNY-ESF get any closer than 19 points down, and Berkeley eventually would win the game by 22.
The Knights connected on 46.3 percent of their attempts from the floor (31-67) while holding the Mighty Oaks to 20 field goals for the game and 35.7 percent shooting (20-56). Berkeley owned a 44-33 edge on the glass, while also recording 18 assists to SUNY-ESF's 13. The Knights would also win the turnover battle, committing just 17 mistakes while forcing 22 opposition turnovers.
Despite the loss for the Mighty Oaks, SUNY-ESF was led by Ryan Caldwell, as he posted a double-double with team-highs of 15 points and 12 rebounds. Tyler Kuhn added 13 points and six caroms as well, and Dan Treadwell completed his day with 11 points and three steals.
Later on in the day, No. 2 seeded Vaughn College turned back No. 3 seeded Albany College of Pharmacy in the other men's semifinal round game. That sets up a final pitting the Knights against the Warriors in tomorrow's championship game, which takes place at the College of New Rochelle at 1:00pm.