The Berkeley College men's basketball team couldn't muster much offensively on Wednesday evening, as the Knights suffered a 72-54 loss to the Falcons of Fisher College. The game took place at the Hill Center on the campus of St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn). With the defeat, the Knights are two games under .500, at 6-8. Fisher improved to 7-8 with the victory.
One bright spot for the Knights despite the defeat was the play of Turray Bynum, as he converted on seven of his nine attempts from the charity stripe, finishing with a team-high 22 points. He also snatched five rebounds, as well. Joshua Hardy played 38 minutes, netting 10 points, recording a game-high five steals, snatching five boards, and adding a team-best four assists. Daquan Jackson finished his evening with eight points and a game-high 14 caroms.
Jason Augliera was tremendous all evening for Fisher, as he drilled seven three-point baskets, and four of his six attempts from the charity stripe, to finish with a game-high 25 points. He also recorded a team-high four steals, while grabbing three rebounds. Jhalen Lumpkins put forth a versatile effort, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds, a game-high six assists, and two steals. Finally, it was Chris Lennear connecting on five of his six attempts from the floor to finish with 13 points.
In what was a very competitive game until the final five minutes, both teams traded significant scoring spurts in the very early stages of the evening. Fisher College held an 8-1 advantage just 98 seconds in, but the Knights would answer with a 9-1 run over the ensuing 3:37 to take a 10-9 advantage. For the next 12:48, neither team led by more than four points. The Falcons, though, would close out the half on a 6-0 run to catapult ahead by 10, 35-25, at the break.
Berkeley hung around with some gritty play, trailing the Falcons by just six, 52-46, with 7:25 remaining in the contest. Fisher, though, would stifle the Knights defensively for the remainder of the clash, as Berkeley would score just eight more points the rest of the way. Fisher would finish the game on 20-8 run, winning the game by 18.
Fisher College was the more efficient team shooting the basketball, as the Falcons connected on 47.4 percent of their shots for the evening (27-57) compared to a 30.8 percent conversion rate for the Knights (20-65). The Falcons held a slim 42-37 edge in the rebounding department, while also piling 17 assists to Berkeley's 12. The Knights did win the turnover battle, committing 21 miscues while forcing 24 mistakes by the opposition.
The Knights will resume their schedule next weekend with a pair of Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests. Berkeley will play at Word of Life on Saturday, January 11, before turning around and playing a road contest the next day At Albany College of Pharmacy. Both clashes are set for 2:00pm starts.