The Berkeley College New York men's basketball team opened the new year with a 87-62 loss to Mercy College in a non-conference matchup on a snowy Saturday afternoon in Dobbs Ferry, NY. It was the second consecutive defeat in four days for the Knights who saw their record dip to 7-4 on the season while Mercy improved its mark to 5-4.

The Mavericks got off to a fast start by opening the game with an 8-2 spurt, but two free throws and a jumper by senior guard Kenton Chan-Man (Brooklyn, NY) and another jumper by junior guard Keenan Langston (Brooklyn, NY) would quickly tie the score at eight apiece with 14:58 remaining in the first stanza. Berkeley hung close for the first ten minutes and trailed only by three at 19-16 when a 7-0 run by the Mavericks gave them their first double-digit lead at 26-16 with 8:08 to play in the first half. Mercy would manage to maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the first half and take a 44-32 lead into halftime.

Trailing 49-34 with 17:34 to play in the second half, the Knights used their trademark defensive pressure to close the gap. Sophomore guard Massiah Merritt's (Brooklyn, NY) jump shot in the paint would cap an 11-4 run to cut the deficit to eight points at 53-45, but the Knights would get no closer as the Berkeley shooting went ice cold from that point. Mercy would put the game away by going on a 21-2 blitz over the ensuing five minutes to up their lead to 74-47. For the game, Berkeley was held to 38% shooting, nearly ten percentage points below their average. The Mavericks also held an 44-32 advantage on the boards while forcing 22 Berkeley turnovers and netted five blocked shots.

Three players scored in double-digits for Berkeley with Chan-Man leading the way with 15 points while netting three thefts and was a perfect 4-for-f from the free throw line. Sophomore center Stephon Jennings (New York, NY) nearly had a double-double with 14 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Langston rounded out the double-digit scoring with 12 points and had a team-high four assists.

Mercy was lead by junior forward/center Lazaro Martinez (New York, NY) with 18 points. Newcomer point guard Jason Quijada (Monsey, NY) added 15 points and dished out a team-high eight assists.

Berkeley will look to get back on the winning track when travel to Maine for a weekend series on Saturday afternoon at 3:00pm against the University of Maine-Presque Isle followed by a Sunday noon matinee against the University of Maine-Fort Kent.