The Berkeley College men's basketball team (18-1 Overall, 7-0 HVIAC) picked up a pair of hard-fought victories this weekend, extending its winning streak to 18 games in the process with triumphs over SUNY-ESF and Alfred State. This past Saturday, the Knights finalized their Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of their schedule with a 97-84 win over the Mighty Oaks. Then today, Berkeley rallied from a 14-point deficit to turn back the Pioneers by a score of 76-66.
"This team exemplifies resiliency," Head Coach Chris Christiansen said following the pair of weekend victories. "It is truly amazing how diligently these student-athletes work. Our main goal is to finish the regular season strong and never get complacent as we focus on capturing titles in both the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the United States Collegiate Athletic Association."
The Knights – who had already clinched the HVIAC Regular Season title – put an exclamation point on their performance in conference action by solidifying an unblemished 7-0 record in league play with Saturday's win over SUNY-ESF. In the victory, Berkeley was paced by newcomer Malik Brown, as the sharpshooting three-point threat nailed three shots from downtown to finish with 16 points. He also connected on five of his six attempts from the charity stripe while also grabbing two rebounds.
Also in the win over the Mighty Oaks – three Knights accounted for 13 points – including Keenan Langston, Massiah Merritt, and Johnnie Green. Dondre Simmons drilled all eight of his free throw attempts to finalize his afternoon with 10 points.
Despite the loss for the Mighty Oaks, SUNY-ESF was led by Dan Treadwell, as he scored a game-high 23 points to go along with seven assists. Ryan Caldwell, also contributed 21 points, nine rebounds, three steals, and two blocks, and Tyler Kuhn added eight points and a game-high 14 caroms.
In Berkeley's come-from-behind win over Alfred State, things looked bleak for the Knights early, as the Pioneers raced out to a convincing 24-10 advantage with 8:30 remaining in the opening session. The Pioneers held a 35-25 edge at halftime, and were out in front 40-27 early in the opening session before the Knights made their run. Berkeley put together a 16-2 run over a span of 4:23 to take a 43-42 lead with 13:02 left in the contest.
The teams would exchange the lead four times over the ensuing 4:21 before the Knights went ahead for good - 54-52 - on a layup by Langston with 8:41 remaining in the game. Berkeley's stifling defensive performance saw the Knights allow only four field goals from the opposition the rest of the way. The Knights built a lead as big as 13 points before going on to win the game by 10.
In the victory for Berkeley, the Knights were paced by Merritt who scored a game-high 21 points. He also recorded three assists and grabbed three rebounds as well. Stephon Jennings posted a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Langston added 16 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
Justin Wallace led the Pioneers with 19 points while Adam Fezza scored 14 in his final game of his four-year Alfred State career. Samuel Volmy came off the bench and chipped in 11.
Berkeley College will close-out its regular season on Wednesday evening, as the team travels to Phoenixville, PA to battle Valley Forge. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 7:00pm.
