The Berkeley College men's basketball team dropped its home opener on Saturday afternoon, falling to Vermont Tech by a score of 105-104 in double overtime. The game took place at the City College of New York's Nat Holman Gymnasium in Harlem, NY. With the defeat, the Knights' record is now 1-1 on the 2023-2024 campaign, while Vermont Tech improved to 4-2.

Despite the loss for the Knights, Kenny Pitt put forth a fantastic effort, connecting on 15 of his 26 shots from the floor to finish with a game-high 32 points. He also added five rebounds while swatting a game-high three shots and adding two steals. Jihadu Brunner knocked down four shots from downtown, finishing with 21 points, and Brandon Speller drained eight of his 12 from the field to finish with 20 points. He also recorded team-highs of nine rebounds and five assists.

For Vermont Tech, Jaylon Calvin posted a double-double, recording a team-high 23 points and game-bests 10 assists and five steals. He also snatched nine rebounds, as well. Tyler Allen scored 21 points while grabbing six boards, tallying four steals, and blocking a shot, and Romelle Watts (18 points, 10 caroms, four assists) and Lovell Hayes (18 points, six rebounds, two steals) both played very well for the victorious visitors. Finally, it was Xzavier Ivey finalizing his afternoon with 13 points, six boards, and a pair of steals.

Berkeley led 49-36 at the half, but Vermont Tech outscored the hosts 51-38 in the final 20 minutes of action to square the game at 87-all as it headed to overtime. After the team scored nine points apiece in the first extra period, Vermont Tech edged Berkeley 9-8 in the second overtime to account for the wild 105-104 victory,

Both teams shot very well from the floor, with Berkeley College converting on 41 of their 90 attempts from the floor (45.6 percent). Vermont Tech shot 51.1 percent for the afternoon (45-88). Berkeley held a 54-44 edge in the rebounding department, while also swatting five shots compared to two for the visitors. Vermont Tech held edges in the assists (19-14) and steals (14-10) columns, while also winning the turnover battle, committing 20 miscues while forcing 23 Berkeley miscues.

Berkeley will return to action this weekend, as they'll take to the road to play two games over Thanksgiving weekend. The Knights will play at Penn State York this Saturday (Time TBA), before taking on Central Penn on Sunday afternoon (2:00pm).