The Berkeley College men's basketball team lost for the first time in seven games on Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Bantams of Trinity College by a score of 78-63 in the championship contest of the 2014 Trinity College Holiday Men's Basketball Invitational. The game was played at the Stan Ogrodnik Court in Ray Oosting Gymnasium on the campus of Trinity College. With the loss, the Knights fell to 7-3 on the season, while the Bantams upped their mark to 9-2.
Trailing, 20-12, midway through the first half after a jumper by Berkeley junior forward Daquan Seymour, the Bantams scored the game's next 12 points to ignite what turned out to be a 25-7 run and take a double-digit lead at 37-27 with under two minutes left before halftime. A Knight free throw in the closing seconds of the first half made the score, 37-28, as Trinity used a balanced scoring effort, shot 50 percent from the field (14-28), and made six of 11 shots from long range in the opening 20 minutes. Starks had eight points and junior forward Shay Ajayi added seven points at the break, while senior guard Kenton Chan-Man paced Berkeley with nine points.
Five straight points by Chan-Man, who represented the Knights on the all-tournament team, made it a one-possession game at 39-36 with 17:35 on the clock, but Starks answered with a three-pointer and Ajayi hit a jumper to push the Bantam lead back up to 44-36 moments later. Bantam junior guard Andrew Hurd drilled a trey from the right corner to push the home team's advantage back over 10 points at 50-38 with 11:44 left to play, and Trinity maintained a healthy cushion for the rest of the contest.
Despite the loss, Berkeley College was led by Chan-Man who scored 23 points while grabbing five boards recording four assists. Sophomore forward Stephon Jennings had 11 points and four steals, and Tasheen Carrow hit three of his six attempts from the floor and finalized his afternoon with nine points.
Trinity College was paced by Junior guard Jaquann Starks, as he scored a game-high 24 points Sophomore forward Ed Ogundeko joined Ajayi and Starks in double figures in scoring with 10 points and added a game-high 11 boards, two blocks, and three steals. Ajayi also contributed seven rebounds and three blocked shots, while senior center George Papadeas pulled down nine rebounds, and senior tri-captain guard Hart Gliedman dished four assists
The Bantams finished with a 39-to-23 edge on the boards, including a 24-to-12 edge in the second half, and held the Knight to a 33.3 field-goal shooting percentage after intermission while shooting 49.0 percent from the floor, 50 percent from three-point land, and 79.2 percent from the foul line to offset its 20 turnovers.
Trinity won the tournament with a 76-72 win over Massachusetts College yesterday and its seventh consecutive victory today, while Berkeley earned an 80-62 triumph over Endicott in its first-round contest last evening. Endicott took down MCLA, 96-67, in the consolation game earlier today, as sophomore guard Max Motroni represented the winning Gulls on the all-tournament team and sophomore forward Adam Conquest (Gardner, Mass.) made the team from MCLA. Ajayi and Starks, who had 68 points between them in the tournament, also joined Chan-Man for Berkeley College on the all-tournament squad.
The Knights will return to action on Saturday afternoon, as Berkeley will take to the road to battle Mercy College. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 2:30pm.
