The Berkeley College men's basketball team won a pair of games this weekend in the NHTI/Holiday Inn New Year's Classic, defeating the University of Maine at Augusta in dominating fashion by a score of 96-67 on Saturday evening, before turning around and defeating NHTI by a score of 90-87 a day later on Sunday afternoon. With the two triumphs, the Knights improved their record on the 2018-2019 season to 9-4.
Senior guard Ricardo Ayuso led all scorers with 25 points in the Knights' convincing 29-point win over the Moose, connecting on seven three-point baskets in the process. He also snatched five rebounds while recording three assists and a pair of steals. Deylon Bovell hit nine of his 18 shots from the floor to finish with 22 points. He also collected a game-high 16 boards. Dequan Jones also netted 16 points while grabbing seven rebounds.
Despite the loss for the Moose, Dustin Simpson-Bragg recorded a team-high 19 points while adding six rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a pair of steals. Noah Thompson contributed with 11 points, six assists, five caroms, and two steals, and Bryce Gibson posted a double-double with 10 points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
In the Knights' thrilling three-point win over the Lynx, Ayuso hit the game-winning three with six seconds remaining on the clock, breaking an 87-all tie with the clutch shot. For the game, he finished with a game-high 30 points, while also adding four assists and three rebounds. Bovell netted 19 points while grabbing eight rebounds and tallying three steals in the winning effort, and Jones finalized his afternoon with 17.
NHTI had five players score in double figures despite the loss, including J'Quavious Thurmond and Jaevan Dobbins who scored 22 points apiece. CJ Adams, Deric Jackson, and Sam Dorissaint scored 13, 12, and 10 points respectively.
Berkeley College will play five of its next six games at home, starting with this Wednesday's game against Washington Adventist University. The contest will take place at Pratt Institute, with a start-time for 8:00pm.