For the seventh time in 10 seasons, the Berkeley College men's basketball team (19-5 Overall, 6-0 HVIAC) won the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship, defeating the defending champion Bears of St. Joseph's College (18-9 Overall, 5-1 HVIAC) by a score of 91-82 Sunday afternoon at the Albert M. White Gymnasium in Albany, NY. The No. 1 seeded Knights – who were unblemished in league play during the regular season and dismissed the Panthers yesterday – used a balanced effort in solidifying the program's seventh HVIAC championship.
"Prior to the start of the season, this team had a number of goals that it wanted to achieve, and capturing a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title was one of them," Berkeley College Head Coach Chris Christiansen said. "When you have a group of student-athletes who have the same focus and determination, and who truly enjoy playing for one another, you have a great chance of being successful. I am extremely proud of this group for accomplishing this, and I cannot say enough good things about what they've done this year. We will take some time and enjoy this feat, and then we'll get ready to give it our best shot in the USCAA National Basketball Tournament."
The Bears – who captured the HVIAC crown last season – did not make it easy on Berkeley, especially in the opening session. St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) trailed only briefly in the first period (3-2) before Greg Beehler knocked-down a three-point basket to put his team ahead by a score of 5-3 just 2:48 into the game. Later – with St. Joseph's holding on to a 20-18 edge – the Bears would put together an 11-2 run over a span of 1:47 to grab a 31-20 advantage. The Knights would battle back with a 7-0 run, though, as a three-point basket and converted jumper by Kenton Chan-Man, and a made basket by Keenan Langston brought Berkeley to within four points at 31-27. The Knights kept things close and pulled to within two at one point, but the Bears maintained their lead, eventually taking a 43-37 advantage into the locker room.
In the second half, an 11-0 Berkeley run over a span of 2:28 to start the stanza catapulted the Knights to a 48-43 lead. That spurt included a pair of triples by guard Tasheen Carrow and jumpers by Stephon Jennings and Langston. St. Joseph's would quickly tie the game, scoring the contest's next five points after David Louison drained a jumper and Michael Megafu converted on a launch from downtown. At that point, the game was even at 48 apiece with 15:42 left in regulation.
20 seconds later, Langston nailed one-of-two freebees to put Berkeley back up 49-48, but on the Bears' next possession, Louison would nail a shot to put St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) on top 50-49. That would be the final time that the Bears would have the lead on the afternoon, as Berkeley College took control from there. A 10-4 Knights run over a 3:28 span put Berkeley ahead by a score of 59-54 with 11:39 left in the contest. The Knights continued to build their lead from that point forward, eventually taking a commanding 15 point lead (81-66 with 3:02 to go) before winning the championship game by nine.
Leading the way for the Knights in the big victory was senior Kenton Chan-Man, as he connected on nine of his 18 shots from the floor and six of his eight attempts from the charity stripe to finish with a game-high 25 points. Veteran Keenan Langston contributed in a big way, sinking 10 of his 15 attempts from the line en route to finishing his afternoon with 23 points and nine rebounds. Stephon Jennings went six-for-seven from the floor, netting 14 points and pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds while also tallying four assists, and Tasheen Carrow and Dayquan Seymour finished with 10 points apiece.
Despite the loss for the St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn, the Bears were led by David Louison who scored a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists. Additionally, Matt O'Neill netted 18 points, pulled-down six caroms and tallied a game-high six steals, and Michael Murray and Michael Megafu both contributed 10 points.
The Knights' offense was spot-on just as it has been for most of the season, as Berkeley shot just under 50 percent for the afternoon, knocking-down 32 of their 65 shot attempts on the day (49.2 percent conversion rate) while netting 24 points off 17 opponent turnovers. The Knights held a slight 45-39 edge in the rebounding department, and both teams had 11 assists apiece.
Now that the Knights have solidified yet another HVIAC crown, the team will be huddled around the computer on Tuesday, as the USCAA will announce the 10 teams that will be invited to compete in its National Tournament for 2014-2015. Keep it posted to www.BerkeleyCollegeKnights.com and www.theUSCAA.com for all of the latest information on Berkeley's tournament status!
