The Berkeley College men's basketball team picked up a victory in its home opener on Sunday afternoon, defeating the Fighting Saints of the College of St. Joseph's (Vermont) by a score of 107-71. The contest took place at the Hill Center in Brooklyn, NY. With the victory, the Knights improved to 4-2 on the year, while the Fighting Saints dipped to 5-8 on the season.
It was the fourth meeting in five seasons between the College of St. Joseph's (Vermont) and Berkeley College. The most memorable confrontation between the two squads came back in the semifinal round of the 2014-2015 USCAA National Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals, when the Knights outlasted the Fighting Saints 115-111 in a three-overtime thriller. Since then, though, the games between the two have not been close. The Knights claimed victory against College of St. Joseph's Vermont 86-61 at the Borough of Manhattan Community College back on January 19, 2006, before hanging 115 points and beating the Fighting Saints by 40 on December 16, 2017.
The Knights dominated this one from start to finish, as Berkeley College led by 34 at the half (61-27), and went up by as many as 43 points in the second session before eventually winning the game by 36.
Larence Horner paced the Knights with an incredible effort, as he connected on 11 of his 12 shots from the floor to finish with a game-high 23 points He also led all rebounders with 14 caroms, including seven on the offensive side. Deylon Bovell posted a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Stevaun Latouche also put together a strong performance, netting 13 points and snatching 11 boards while tallying two assists, recording a pair of steals, and swatting two shots. Anthony Hemingway scored 15 points, and Dequan Jones and Foday Saccoh each scored 11 apiece.
Despite the loss for the College of St. Joseph's (Vermont), Mickalous Snowden led the way for his team with 16 points and a pair of rebounds. Brian Kennedy scored 15 points while snatching five rebounds, and Bryan Nunez added 13 points and three assists in 26 minutes of action. Adley Eliacin scored nine points while snatching a team-best seven rebounds.
The Knights connected on 50.6 percent of their attempts from the floor (43-85), while holding the College of St. Joseph's (Vermont) to a 34.2 percent conversion rate (27-79). Berkeley snatched 64 rebounds compared to 42 for the opposition, and the Knights also recorded 24 assists compared to 12 for the Fighting Saints. Berkeley won the turnover battle slightly, committing 19 miscues while forcing 20 College St. Joseph's (Vermont) mistakes.
Berkeley College will open up the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference portion of its schedule on Wednesday evening, as the Knights will face The King's College (NY) Lions at Pratt Institute. Start-time for the game is scheduled for 8:30pm.
