The Berkeley College men's basketball team picked up a much-needed victory on Wednesday evening, as the Knights dominated the Lions of The King's College (NY) in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game by a score of 114-29. The game took place at the Aviator Complex in Brooklyn, NY. With the victory, Berkeley improved its record to 2-4 on the 2019-2020 campaign (1-0 HVIAC), while the Lions slipped to a mark of 3-5 (1-4 conference play).
There was no shortage of contributors for the Knights in their victory, starting with junior guard Joshua Hardy. The 6'3 standout led all players on the evening with 21 points (10-17 FG) and 23 rebounds, while tying for game-highs of eight assists and four steals. Veteran Deylon Bovell scored 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, and registered three assists in 18 minutes of action. Foday Saccoh drilled seven of his 11 attempts from the floor to finalize his evening with 16, and Turray Bynum netted 14 points while snatching five caroms. Daquan Jackson and Robert Soriano scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
For Berkeley College, the 114 points served as the most they've scored as a team since back on December 15, 2018, when the Knights netted 115 in a 39-point win against Mid-Atlantic Christian. Remarkably, Berkeley held the Lions to under 30 points for the game. The last time the Knights held the opposition under 30 points for a game was during the semifinals of the 2017-2018 HVIAC Tournament, when Berkeley defeated Vaughn 92-28 (2/17/18).
Despite the loss for the Lions, King's (NY) was paced by Jesse Filho, as he scored a team-high 16 points while grabbing four boards. Tyler Bowens netted 11 points (5-7 FT) and tied for the game-high of four steals.
Berkeley put this game away early, racing out to an 8-0 advantage just 54 seconds in and going up 28-2 with 9:50 remaining in the opening half. The Knights increased their advantage to 50 in the opening half (53-3) before taking a 57-8 edge into the locker room at halftime. The second session was much of the same for Berkeley, as the Knights outscored King's (NY) 57-21 to account for the huge 85-point win.
The Knights dominated in all facets. Berkeley College shot 52.1 percent from the floor (50-96) while holding the Lions to just six converted field goals all evening (6-59, 10.2 percent). The Knights out-rebounded King's (NY) 78-27, while also registering 29 assists to the Lions two. Berkeley was tenacious on defense from the start, recording 20 steals and 10 blocks while also forcing 32 Lions turnovers.
The Knights will aim for their first winning streak of the season, as Berkeley returns to the court Saturday afternoon against American National. The game takes place at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, with start-time scheduled for 2:00pm.