The Berkeley College men's basketball team won two of its most three recent games, defeating HVIAC foe The King's College (NY) by forfeit back on Saturday, February 11th, before falling to Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse on Sunday, February 12th. Then, earlier this evening, the Knights held off the SUNY-ESF Mighty Oaks 90-87 in HVIAC competition. With that output, the Knights improved to 15-10 heading into tomorrow's regular season finale against Washington Adventist.

 

As for the Knights' opponents, the Lions of the King's College (NY) finalized their season at 2-10 (1-6 HVIAC with the loss), while the Bobcats improved to a mark of 14-6 on the season. The SUNY-ESF Mighty Oaks, who have given Berkeley plenty of tough games over the past few years, fell to 7-12.

 

In Berkeley's loss at Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse, the Knights were led by Malachi Faison, as he finished with a team-high 17 points while snatching seven rebounds. Kenneth Hines registered a double-double, scoring 15 points, grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds, and dishing a game-high five assists. Julio Wallace contributed 14 points while swiping a game-high four steals and grabbing three boards, and Karranja Bright added 11 points and four boards.

 

For the Bobcats, Anton Berga and Josue Oreste tied for the game-high of 20 points. Oreste also snatched a game-high 15 rebounds while leading all players with four blocks, and Berga finalized his afternoon with four rebounds and three steals. Jameel Abdallah narrowly missed a double-double, as he scored 19 points while snatching nine rebounds, and Chamarri Baskerville finalized his day with 14 points and four rebounds.

 

The teams had nearly identical shooting percentages, with Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse connecting on 42.3 percent of its attempts from the floor (30-71), and the Knights hitting 33 of their 80 shots (41.3 percent). The Bobcats held a 52-43 edge on the glass, but the Knights dished 17 assists compared to 11 for the hosts. Berkeley won the turnover battle, committing 16 miscues while Bryant & Stratton-Syracuse had 19, and the Bobcats won the game despite missing 20 free throws (25-45, 55.6 percent). 

 

In Berkeley's hard-fought victory over SUNY-ESF, the Knights were paced by Marc Combs, as the senior connected on eight of his 15 attempts from the floor to finish with a team-high 21 points. Jihadu Brunner contributed 14 points, four rebounds, a game-high five assists, and a team-high four steals, and Tahshon Moore finalized his afternoon with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Julio Wallace and Karranja Bright finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. 

 

The Mighty Oaks were led by the sensational effort of Christian Rossi, as he drilled eight of his 13 attempts from the floor, and nine of his 10 attempts from the free throw line, to finish with a game-high 27 points. His eight caroms were also a game-high, and he added three assists and three steals, as well. Reid Patchett scored 20 points (7-10 FG), collected five boards, and dished two assists, and Vince Davis added 11 points. Finally, it was Patrick Emery having a nice all-around game with 10 points, a game-high six assists, and five rebounds.

 

The Knights had a slew of seven point leads in the early stages, going up 12-5, 18-11, and 22-15. SUNY ESF took its first lead since going up 2-0 in the opening moments of the game when Reid connected on a jumper to put the Mighty Oaks ahead by a score of 28-27 with 6:53 remaining in the opening half. The teams exchanged leads twice more before finding themselves tied at 36 apiece with 2:27 left in the session. The score stayed that way until Reid broke the tie with 12 seconds left, hitting a jumper to give SUNY ESF a 38-36 lead as time expired on the first half.

 

The Mighty Oaks extended their lead to six points, 51-45, with 15:11 to go in the game, but an 11-0 run by the Knights over a span of 2:04 gave the Knights a 56-51 lead. That run included two freebees converted by Bright, four straight points by Brunner, a made layup by Wallace, and a trifecta by Combs. 

 

Late in the game, Berkeley looked to have things in hand, holding on to an 11-point edge, 78-67, with 4:54 left. SUNY-ESF battled back though, going on a 20-11 run to slice the Knights' lead to just two points, 89-87, with 23 seconds to go. After a Combs turnover and an Andrew Cox steal, Cox quickly turned the ball back over, prompting a timeout by Berkeley Head Coach Jonathan Pena.

 

Coming out of the timeout, Brunner was fouled. He would proceed to split a pair of free throws, giving the Knights a 90-87 lead. The Mighty Oaks had one final chance to tie the game, but Vince Davis' three-point attempt was off the mark, giving Berkeley the thrilling conference win.

 

The Knights connected on a whopping 52.9 percent of their attempts from the floor (36-68), while SUNY-ESF converted on 28 of their 59 shots (47.5 percent). SUNY ESF held a slim margin on the glass, snatching 37 boards compared to 33 for Berkeley, and the Mighty Oaks dished 20 assists, while the Knights had 17. Berkeley doubled-up SUNY ESF in points in the paint, scoring 52 there, while the Mighty Oaks earned 26. The Knights also won the turnover battle, committing 25, while the hosts had 30. 

 

Berkeley will return to the court tomorrow to play their regular season finale, as the Knights will host Washington Adventist University at CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium (4:00pm). Prior to the contest, the Berkeley College Department of Athletics, and the women's basketball program will honor senior Marc Combs, as well as five student-athletes who didn't have a senior day last year, including Rashaun Thomas, Foday Saccoh, William Gough, Daquan Jackson, and Tristan Polnitz.