The Berkeley College men's basketball team started calendar year 2020 with a victory, defeating the Moose of the University of Maine at Augusta by a score of 93-71. The game took place at the Goldie Crocker Wellness Center on the campus of NHTI, as part of the NHTI New Year's Classic. With the defeat, the Knights improved to a mark of 6-6 on the 2019-2020 campaign, while the University of Maine at Augusta slipped to a mark of 3-10, dropping its fourth straight contest.

Leading the way for the Knights was Joshua Hardy, as he scored a team-high 19 points, connecting on eight of his 17 attempts from the floor. He also snatched eight rebounds, while adding three steals and recording a pair of dimes. Daquan Jackson was very efficient on the afternoon, draining seven of his 12 shots to finish with 15 points. He narrowly missed a double-double, grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. Robert Soriano and Tristan Polnitz scored 13 points apiece for Berkeley.

Despite the loss for the Moose, the University of Maine at Augusta was led by Israel Brown, as he knocked down 10 of his 22 shots from the floor on his way to finishing with a game-high 26 points. He also snatched eight rebounds on the day. Connor Davies netted 11 points while grabbing eight boards and swatting three shots, and Elijah Smith scored 11 points while snatching four rebounds and tying for the game-high of four assists.

The game was tightly contested for the opening 9:51 of action, with Berkeley College holding a slim 25-20 edge at that juncture of the game. The Knights would then go on a 9-0 run over the ensuing 1:32 to catapult to an advantage of 14 points (34-20). That spurt included a converted layup by Daquan Jackson, a bucket by Tristan Polnitz, an impressive made dunk by Polnitz, and a drained three-point basket by Joshua Hardy. Berkeley gradually continued to build its lead, eventually snatching a 51-29 edge as the teams entered the locker room at halftime.

The Knights continued to build their commanding lead in the second half, as Berkeley took its biggest lead of the afternoon, 85-48, 11:35 into the session. Berkeley would eventually go on to record the victory by 22 points.

Despite shooting just 37.4 percent from the floor (40-107), the Knights dominated the game from start to finish, and led in practically all the major categories. Berkeley hit 10 three-point baskets on the day, which was a season-high for the Knights. Berkeley out-rebounded the University of Maine at Augusta 55-49, while also registering 18 assists to the Moose's 14. The Knights committed just 15 turnovers on the afternoon, while forcing 31 opposition miscues. Berkeley also scored 50 points in the paint, compared to 36 for the University of Maine at Augusta.  

Berkeley College will look to make it two consecutive wins tomorrow, as the Knights will take on the Lynx of NHTI on day two of the NHTI New Year's Classic. Start-time is scheduled for 3:00pm.