The Berkeley College men's basketball team made it eight consecutive victories this season – and 32-straight program wins overall – by defeating the Falcons of Davis College on Saturday by a score of 94-41 in a contest played at the College of New Rochelle's Wellness Center in New Rochelle, NY. The game served as the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener for Berkeley (8-0, 1-0 HVIAC). With the loss, the Falcons dipped to 1-10 on the year (0-1 HVIAC).
Prior to the game, the Berkeley College Department of Athletics held a special ceremony in which it presented the institution's President Michael Smith with a commemorative 2015-2016 USCAA Men's Basketball championship ring as well as an autographed ball. The ball featured signatures of all of the student-athletes who were a member of that special team. After the ceremony, the Knights put on a show by dominating Davis College.
Berkeley College set the tone for the game early, scoring the contest's first 12 points over the first 3:47 of action. That 12-0 spurt included four points apiece from Johnnie Green and Massiah Merritt, and baskets by Dondre Simmons and Stephon Jennings. After a modest 7-0 run by the Falcons brought Davis to within five points at 12-7, Berkeley would go on a 16-0 run to increase their lead to 21 points at 28-7.
After consecutive baskets by the Falcons cut the Knights' edge to 28-11, Berkeley College would outscore Davis 19-9 the remainder of the half to take a 47-20 lead into the locker room at halftime. In the second half, the Knights continued to impose their will on the Falcons, gradually increasing their lead and eventually catapulting to a lead of as many as 58 points. Berkeley would go on to win by 53.
There were multiple contributors for the Knights, including newcomer Ian Charles, as he scored a game-high 12 points to go along with four steals and four rebounds. Massiah Merritt had his quintessential all-around performance, netting 10 points and posting game-highs of seven assists and six steals. He also snatched five rebounds and blocked a shot.
The Knights' Johnnie Green netted 11 points and snatched five rebounds and while tallying two steals and swatting a pair of shots, and Stephon Jennings made all four of his attempts from the floor while also finalizing his afternoon with four assists, two rebounds, and two steals.
In a losing effort for Davis College, it was Duke Guo and Ernestas Puzaras scoring eight points apiece. Jackson Henri snatched a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
The Knights connected on 47.4 percent of their shots from the floor (37-78) while holding Davis to just 15 field goals on the afternoon and a shooting percentage of 28.3. Berkeley forced a whopping 40 opponent turnovers while committing 21 and the Knights held a 48-40 edge on the glass. Berkeley also collected 26 assists, while Davis College had 11.
Berkeley College will now have six days off before resuming its season next Saturday against Culinary Institute of America in another Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The game will take place at the College of New Rochelle, and start-time is scheduled for 3:00pm.
