The No.1 seeded Berkeley College men's basketball team continued to dominate the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Sunday afternoon, as the Knights today defeated the Panthers of the Albany College of Pharmacy by a score of 90-53. The game took place at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY. With the victory, the Knights won their 11th consecutive game, improving to a mark of 17-8 on the 2019-2020 campaign. No. 2 seeded Albany finalized its season at 11-14 with the loss.
The Knights have competed in the HVIAC Men's Basketball Tournament for 15 years, and the team has won the championship 12 times, including six years consecutively. Berkeley has an astounding 25-2 record in the tournament, and has only failed to qualify for the Regional postseason once. Additionally, Berkeley captured the final meeting ever against Albany College of Pharmacy in the tournament, finishing an unblemished 6-0 against the Panthers in history (Albany College of Pharmacy will move to the Yankee Small College Conference for the 2020-2021 season). Following the victory, Head Coach Jonathan Pena gave his thoughts.
"Prior to coming into the season, there was a list of goals that this group wanted to accomplish," Pena said. "In terms of statistics, we wanted to win the HVIAC regular season title, and follow that up with another conference crown. We achieved both of those goals within the past two weeks, and now we're looking forward to competing in the USCAA Division II National Tournament, with a chance to push for another National crown. It's no secret that our season started shaky, but I always believed that once our student-athletes got on the same page, that we'd become a very potent team on both ends of the court. We're a confident bunch right now, and I feel as though the sky is the limit for us in Uniontown, PA."
In all five of Berkeley's previous HVIAC title game victories, the Knights had rallied from nine points or more down to win the game. Today, Berkeley led the game for a total of 39:32, and was never truly threatened, dominating the game from start to finish in business-like fashion.
Turray Bynum led the way for the soaring Knights, as he scored 18 points while registering four steals and snatching three boards. Following the conclusion of the game, he was announced as the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament. Fellow first year Knight Joseph Caraballo played extremely well, hitting 10 of his 14 shots to finish with a game-high 23 points. He also snatched three boards, as well. Denzel Bush and Joshua Hardy contributed 11 points apiece, and Robert Soriano contributed in a number of ways, posting game-highs of 10 assists and six steals, while also grabbing eight rebounds.
Despite the loss for Albany College of Pharmacy, the Panthers were paced by Caleb Scrime, as he scored a team-high 14 points. Evan Georgio posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, and Josh Cote and Nate Beltran contributed six points apiece.
The title bout saw the Knights race out to a 12-4 lead in the opening seven minutes and extend their advantage to 42-24 at the intermission. The six-time reigning HVIAC champions shot 45.2 percent from the floor for the game (33-73), while the Panthers hit just 17 shots for the afternoon (17-60, 28.3 percent). Berkeley held a slim 44-43 advantage on the glass, but the turnover differential was glaring, as the Knights committed just 10 miscues, while forcing 23 mistakes by the Panthers. Berkeley held a 32-22 edge in points in the paint, and the Knights bench netted 59 points compared to a 29 point contribution from the Albany College of Pharmacy bench. Berkeley also piled 25 assists to the Panthers' eight.
With the victory, the Knights have received an automatic bid to the 2019-2020 USCAA Division II National Men's Basketball Tournament. Berkeley College will have an opportunity to win its fifth National crown in a six year span. The Knights will learn who their opponent/potential opponents will be during the USCAA Division II selection show, which will air on Friday, February 28th. For the latest information on Berkeley College's quest for another USCAA championship, keep it posted to berkeleycollegeknights.com and/or theuscaa.com.
