The Berkeley College men's basketball team split a pair of games this past weekend, losing to Penn State York 75-73 on Saturday evening before turning around and downing Central Penn 85-71 the following day. With that output, Berkeley is now 2-2 on the 2023-2023 campaign.
Leading the way for Berkeley despite its loss to the Nittany Lions was veteran Julio Wallace, as he connected on seven of his 12 attempts from the floor to tie for the game-high in points with 15. He also snatched seven rebounds, as well. Karanja Bright contributed 13 points and six boards, and Kenny Pitt and Maurice Harris netted 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Pacing Penn State York in its victory were Lui Abdeta and Deriq Brown, with both players tying for the game-high of 15 points. Abdeta also added nine rebounds, and Brown finished with four boards and two assists. Marquise McClean posted a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and Quentin Wells and Jayden Weishaar scored seven points apiece.
In what was a very competitive first half, Berkeley held seven point leads of 20-13, 26-19, and 30-23, but the Nittany Lions battled back to take a 40-39 edge following a pair of converted free throws by McClean with 2:14 remaining in the session. Penn State York would eventually own a 44-41 advantage after 20 minutes of action.
Penn State York led by as many as nine points in the early stages of the second half, and held a 56-48 edge with 14:38 to go in the game, before 10-0 Berkeley run over a span of 3:10 put the visitors back ahead by a score of 58-56. That aforementioned Knights run was highlighted by Brandon Speller's five points.
The contest remained tight down the stretch, with neither team taking lead greater than three points the rest of the way. Berkeley trailed 70-69 with just under 3:25 remaining, before Pitt knocked down a jumper to give his team a 71-70 advantage with 3:21 to go. Pitt once again came up big 64 seconds later, knocking down yet another jumper to extend Berkeley's edge to three points (73-70) with 2:17 remaining.
Neither team would make another field goal the rest of the way, but it would be Penn State York earning the victory, knocking down five of six attempts at the charity stripe while Berkeley was 0-for-2 with a pair of turnovers since registering their last bucket.
For the game, Berkeley connected on 38.7 percent of its attempts from the floor (24-62), while Penn State York hit on 26 of 74 shots (35.1 percent). Both squads were efficient from the free throw line, with Penn State York going 18-for-24 (75 percent), and Berkeley hitting on 19 of their 26 at the stripe (73.1 percent). The Nittany Lions held a 38-30 edge in the rebounding department, while also finishing with 12 assists. Berkeley won the turnover battle, committing just nine on the evening, while the hosts had 13.
In Berkeley's victory over Central Penn, six players scored in double figures, including Speller, as he finished with a team-high 13 points. Wallace followed up his solid game against Penn State York with another nice performance, as he finished with 12 points, five boards, and three steals. Maurice Harris netted 12 points while snatching five rebounds. Bright added 11 points, a team-high eight boards, three assists, a game-high three blocks, and two steals, and Kevon Leary and Brian Fajardo scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Central Penn was paced by Rodney Ross, as his 20 points led all scorers. He also grabbed four rebounds and tallied a pair of assists, as well. Quadere Allen scored 16 points, snatched four boards, tallied a game-high three steals, and blocked two shots, and Connor Jenkins connected on four of his nine attempts from the floor to finalize his afternoon with 10 points and three rebounds.
Berkeley trailed only twice in the contest, but took the lead for good with 7:06 remaining in the first half when Fajardo drained his second consecutive trifecta to put the visitors ahead, 28-27. The Knights would go on to score six more points in a row to cap the run at 9-0, going up 34-29. From there, Berkeley went up by as many as 10 points (43-33) before taking a 43-35 edge into the locker room at halftime.
In the second half, Berkeley gradually built its advantage, eventually going up by as many as 23 points (74-51) following a pair of Speller freebees with 9:28 remaining in the game. Central Penn tried to battle back, putting together a 7-0 run over a 68-second span to pull to within 16 with 8:20 left. Central Penn eventually inched to within 10 points (79-69) with just under four minutes to play, but Berkeley's defense would only yield two more points down the stretch, as the visitors held on to win by 14.
For the game, Berkeley connected on 44.4 percent of its shot attempts (32-72), while Central Penn earned a 41.2 percent conversion rate (28-68). Berkeley registered 14 assists compared to 10 for the hosts, while also winning the turnover battle, committing just 11 miscues, while Central Penn had 20. The home school did win the rebounding battle, grabbing 43 boards compared to 36 for Berkeley.
Berkeley will look to make it two consecutive victories on Friday, as the Knights will host Bryant & Stratton-Albany. Start-time is scheduled for 7:30pm.
