The Berkeley College men's basketball team saw its run of 38 consecutive home victories dashed on Sunday afternoon, as the Knights fell to the Nittany Lions of Penn State Brandywine by a score of 97-90. The game took place at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. With the loss, the Knights dipped to 1-3 on the 2019-2020 campaign, while Penn State Brandywine improved to 1-1.

Prior to today's defeat, the Knights hadn't lost at home since January 30, 2015, when Berkeley suffered a 74-68 loss to Valley Forge University at the College of New Rochelle.

Tristan Polnitz led the way for the Knights despite their loss, as he scored a team-high 19 points (5-8 FG, 8-9 FT). He also snatched seven rebounds, registered a team-high five assists, and contributed a game-high four steals. Turray Bynum connected on three shots from downtown to finish with 17 points, eight caroms, three steals, two swatted shots, and a pair of assists, and it was Daquan Jackson posting a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

In the victory for the Nittany Lions, Bryce Barrouk connected on all 10 of his free throw attempts, buried five three-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds in 32 minutes of action. Jacob Hunt netted 25 points and tied Pat Gallagher for the game-high of six assists, and Ketquan Gatewood posted a double-double, dropping in 20 points while grabbing 14 rebounds. Quentin Beasley shot 6-of-11 from the field, finalizing his afternoon with 14 points and five assists.

Berkeley College led by as many as 11 points during the first half, but Penn State Brandywine rallied to knot the score at 37-37 on Hunt's three-pointer with 3:37 to go. Gallagher's jumper with 26 seconds remaining in the opening session gave the Nittany Lions a slim 41-40 edge as the teams entered the locker room at halftime.

Penn State Brandywine used two triples from Barrouk to catapult to an advantage of 59-53 seven minutes into the second half, and three minutes later, saw the margin balloon to double figures as Hunt completed a three-point play. Berkeley pulled within four when Bovell sunk a layup with 5:53 to play. The Knights, however, would score only one point over the next three minutes, and the Nittany Lions extended the lead back to double figures when Hunt knocked down a jumper at the 3:18 mark. Five converted free throws and Barrouk's fifth triple of the game during the final 2:13 helped the Lions deal Berkeley its first home loss in 57.5 months.

Shooting efficiency was a big problem for the Knights today, as was defense. Berkeley College connected on just 36.9 percent of its attempts from the floor (31-84), and Penn State Brandywine sunk 32 of its 66 shots this afternoon (48.8 percent). The Knights outrebounded the opposition 54-44, and Berkeley also won the turnover battle, committing just 16 miscues compared to 19 for the Nittany Lions. Penn State Brandywine registered 19 assists, while Berkeley piled 12.

Berkeley will have five days off before returning to the court Saturday evening, as the Knights will travel to Takoma Park, Maryland to take on Washington Adventist. Start-time is scheduled for 7:00pm.