The Berkeley College men's basketball team continued to roll on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Mighty Oaks of SUNY-ESF by a score of 73-51 in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The game took place in Syracuse, NY. The victory – the 14th consecutive triumph for the Knights – improved Berkeley to a mark of 17-1 on the year. The team also stayed unblemished in league play, catapulting to a 4-0 record in the conference. SUNY-ESF fell to 4-11 overall on the 2017-2018 season, and 2-3 in league competition. Following the victory, Head Coach Jonathan Pena gave his thoughts.
"It was great to see our guys come back less than 24 hour after a stellar win at Villa Maria to pick up another victory," Pena said. "Demetri was hitting on all cylinders from start to finish, and Johnnie truly was a court general this afternoon. I was very pleased that we were able to get a lot of players involved in today's win. We'll now enjoy a couple of days off before getting ready to face The King's College (NY) on Wednesday evening."
The Knights' clash with the Mighty Oaks served as a rematch of the semifinal round game of the 2016-2017 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament – a game won convincingly by Berkeley College by a score of 97-47. The Knights led 40-26 at halftime, and outscored SUNY-ESF 33-25 in the second stanza en route to a 22-point blowout triumph.
Leading the way for Berkeley College in the Knights' win was Stewart, as he connected on seven of his 10 attempts from the floor – including three of his four shots from beyond the arc to finish with a team-high 17 points. He also snatched four rebounds, as well. Green dropped-in 12 points and snatched five rebounds, and Foday Saccoh put together a strong effort by contributing 12 points, five rebounds, and two steals. Jason Velazquez scored six points and collected a game-high 12 rebounds, and Shamoree Strawn put together a versatile performance, scoring eight points, grabbing eight rebounds, and tallying three assists.
Despite the loss for SUNY-ESF, the Mighty Oaks were led by Zachary Dormer, as he scored a game-high 20 points while grabbing three rebounds and tallying three steals. Tyler Kuhn also added six points and a team-high seven rebounds in a losing effort.
The Knights converted on 47 percent of their shots from the floor on the afternoon, as they hit on 29 of their 61 attempts. On the flip side, SUNY-ESF was only able to drill 19 of their 75 attempts, with that output equating to a 25 percent conversion rate. Berkeley College dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Mighty Oaks by a count of 51-31, and the Knights recorded 10 assists compared to just three for SUNY-ESF. The Mighty Oaks did win the turnover battle, committing just 12 miscues while forcing 20 Knights mistakes.
Berkeley College will return to action on Wednesday evening, as the Knights will take on the Lions of The King's College (NY) in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The game will take place at Baruch College, and start-time is scheduled for 7:00pm.
