The calendar flipped to 2016, but the Berkeley College men's basketball team continued its winning ways, picking up a thrilling 93-89 double overtime victory over the Bulldogs of DeSales University on the first day of DeSales University's Al Senavitis Tournament in Center Valley, PA. With the victory, the Knights improved to a record of 8-1 on 2015-2016 campaign, while the Bulldogs dipped to 7-4 on the year.
Leading the way for the Knights on the afternoon was Keenan Langston, as the senior netted a game-high 27 points, connecting on eight of his 15 attempts from the floor while draining four three-pointers and drilling seven of his nine attempts from the charity stripe. He also tallied a game-high eight steals while snatching six rebounds and collecting a pair of assists. Newcomer Johnnie Green contributed 15 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and a game-high four blocks, and Dondre Simmons, Stephon Jennings, and Massiah Merritt netted 13, 12, and 10 points, respectively. Following the win, Head Coach Chris Christiansen gave his thoughts.
"We knew coming into this weekend that this was going to be a very challenging tournament for us, and I feel as though our guys showed a tremendous amount of resiliency and grit in picking up this win against a very talented Division III institution in DeSales University," Christiansen said. "Even when we fell behind early in the first overtime, our guys never panicked. A victory of this caliber does wonders for this team's confidence, and I'm very proud of their efforts. We'll enjoy this one for a few hours, and then we'll get ready to play in the championship game of this tournament tomorrow against Richard Stockton."
The Knights led by as many as 10 points in the first half before entering the locker room with a three point lead – 32-29 – after one session. After falling behind briefly by a score of 38-37 in the early stages of the second stanza, the Knights roared back, out-scoring DeSales University 27-15 over a span of 9:45 to grab a 64-53 edge with a little over six minutes remaining in the game.
Later – Berkeley held a 69-64 lead with just over a minute remaining when the Bulldogs' Cody Deal nailed a three-point bucket to pull his team to within two points. Merritt turned the ball over on the Knights' ensuing possession, and the ball was stolen by DeSales University's Aaron Burton who scored on a fast-break lay-up to knot the game was 69 apiece with 46 ticks left. That is the way the score would remain as the game headed to overtime.
In the extra session, DeSales University would score the first four points to push ahead 73-69, and eventually led the contest 76-72 with 3:02 left. On the Bulldogs' next possession, Deal would misfire on a three-point basket, and the ball was rebounded by Merritt. Merritt then swung a pass over to Langston who drove into the paint and converted on a layup to pull the Knights to within a pair at 76-74. Three made free throws by Langston over the ensuing 1:14 put Berkeley back on top by 77-76 with 1:48 to go.
20 seconds later – the Bulldogs' Ryan Callahan would hit a layup to put his team up 78-77. That is the way he score would remain until the 00:32 mark of the session when Langston who drain a triple to push Berkeley back in front by a score of 80-78. DeSales University would later score the equalizer basket, as Kuity Slanger connected on a jumper in the pain to knot the game at 80. Merritt's three-point attempt at the buzzer was off, as the game went to a second overtime period.
In the second overtime period, the Bulldogs went up 82-80 thanks to a layup by Brian Laird, but an 8-0 Knights run over a span of 1:12 put Berkeley up 88-82. That run included two converted baskets by Green, a layup by Merritt, and a pair of free throws by Jennings. DeSales University continued to battle, eventually pulling to within one point – 90-89 – after Deal swished another three-point basket with 1:12 left in the game. That is the final basket and point the Knights would allow, however, as Berkeley held on for an impressive four-point double overtime victory.
Despite the loss for DeSales University, the Bulldogs were led by Slanger who posted a double-double with a team-high of 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. He also collected a game-high nine assists while tallying three steals. Laird scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds, and Deal and Callahan added 14 points apiece.
The shooting percentages were nearly identical, as the Knights connected on 34 of their 74 shots from the floor (45.9 percent), while the Bulldogs hit on 32 of their 72 attempts (44.4 percent). DeSales University out-rebounded the Knights by a margin of 49-37, but Berkeley won the turnover battle, forcing 28 opposition miscues while committing just 21 errors of their own (the Knights scored 36 points off of the DeSales turnovers).
The Knights will look to make it nine consecutive victories tomorrow afternoon, as Berkeley will take on Richard Stockton in the championship game of DeSales University's Al Senavitis Tournament. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 4:00pm.
