The No. 1 seeded Berkeley College men's basketball team survived a strong effort from No. 4 SUNY-ESF in the semifinals of the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament on Saturday evening, holding on to defeat the Mighty Oaks by a score of 76-73. The contest took place at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY. With the victory, the Knights advanced to Sunday's conference championship game, winning their tenth consecutive game in the process, and improving to a mark of 16-8 on the year. SUNY-ESF, which clinched a playoff berth six days earlier with a victory over The King's College (NY), finalized its season at 9-10.
Over the past four seasons, the Knights have averaged winning the semifinal round game of the HVIAC Tournament by 36.5 points. Tonight, however, was a completely different story. The Mighty Oaks team Berkeley squared off against tonight wasn't the same squad the Knights decimated in the same round by 22 in 2015-2016 (84-62) and 50 in 2016-2017 (97-47). SUNY-ESF has clearly improved, and Knights Head Coach Jonathan Pena gave the Mighty Oaks their fair share of credit following Berkeley's victory.
"That is a program on the rise over there," Pena said. "They've truly improved, and they are in the process of building a very competitive team. With that said, I'm very proud of our guys for hanging in tonight and making big plays in crucial moments. We've won 10 in a row, and six of those victories have come by 12 points or less, so it's gratifying to see that our guys have been able to put teams away late. We're riding a wave of confidence right now, and we're excited to play in another conference championship game tomorrow against a quality Albany College of Pharmacy team. It should be a lot of fun."
Daquan Jackson was sensational for Berkeley this evening, posting a double-double by scoring 13 points and snatching a game-high 16 rebounds. He also tied for the game-high of five assists, and swatted a team-best two shots. Tristan Polnitz connected on six of his 10 attempts from the floor, finishing with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists, and it was Turray Bynum finalizing his night with 14 points, five boards, three assists, and three steals.
Despite the loss for SUNY-ESF, the Mighty Oaks were paced by Henry Pflaumer, as he drilled seven shots from downtown to finish with a game-high 28 points on the evening. He also registered four assists and grabbed four rebounds. Cole Paradies posted a double-double with 15 points and a team-high 11 rebounds. He also tied for the game-high of five assists, while blocking a game-high three shots. Reid Patchett finalized his evening with 14 points and four rebounds, and Zachary Dormer scored 10 points, grabbed six boards, tallied a game-high four steals, and added three assists.
The Mighty Oaks raced out to advantages of 13-6 and 17-11 in the early stages of this contest. However, a 10-0 Knights run over a span of 4:58 put Berkeley ahead by a score of 21-17 with 5:43 remaining in the first half. That aforementioned spurt included a converted jumper by Amir Assani, two made free throws and a basket from Bynum, a drained layup from Robert Soriano, and a hoop by Jackson. SUNY-ESF finally scored for the first time in 7:25 when Patchett woud connect on a jumper to bring the Mighty Oaks to within two points at 21-19. It looked as though perhaps Berkeley was going to start putting some distance between itself and its opponent, as the Knights later took a 25-19 advantage. A 6-0 run by SUNY-ESF, however, tied the game at 25 apiece with 1:27 remaining in the half. Berkeley would outscore the Mighty Oaks 6-3 over the final 87 seconds of the stanza to take a 31-28 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
SUNY-ESF would retake the lead with 13:23 remaining in the game on a converted layup by Pflaumer. That made it 44-42 in favor of the Mighty Oaks. Later, SUNY-ESF led 60-55 with 7:04 remaining in the game, and that's when Berkeley College would turn up the voltage.
After falling behind by as many as five, on their next possession, the Knights pulled to within three on a made layup by Joseph Caraballo. After Paradies would misfire on a three-point basket on the other end, Bynum grabbed the rebound and dished it out to Caraballo. Caraballo would proceed to misfire on a trifecta, but Bynum collected the rebound and drew a foul. Bynum drained the two free throws, bringing Berkeley to within a point (60-59). The Mighty Oaks would immediately turn the ball over on the inbounds pass, as it was stolen by Bynum. He then drove to the basket and sunk a breakaway layup, giving the Knights a 61-60 edge.
Berkeley kept the pressure on, eventually catapulting ahead by as many as six points, 67-61, with 4:06 remaining. SUNY-ESF would answer back, as consecutive three-point baskets by Pflaumer tied the game at 67 apiece. The Knights would use baskets by Bynum and Joshua Hardy to go back up 71-67, but Patchett would answer with a jumper to pull his Mighty Oaks to within two at 71-69.
Later, perhaps the biggest converted jumper off the game came out of the hands of Bynum, as the first-year Knight connected on a clutch basket from downtown to put Berkeley ahead 75-71. The Knights though, squandered multiple opportunities inside the final minute to put the game away, as Berkeley misfired on five of six free throw attempts to keep SUNY-ESF alive. The Mighty Oaks actually had the ball with 1.8 seconds remaining, down three, but Pflaumer's potential game-tying three-point basket at the buzzer came up short, giving the Knights the thrilling win.
Berkeley College drained 30 of its 70 attempts from the floor (42.9 percent), while the Mighty Oaks hit on just 22 of their 60 shots (36.7 percent). The teams were worlds apart as it pertained to free throw efficiency. SUNY-ESF misfired on just five freebees all evening long (19-24, 79.2 percent), compared to a 45.2 conversion rate for Berkeley (14-31). The Knights dominated on the glass, snatching 52 rebounds compared to 35 for the opponent. Both squads moved the ball very well, with Berkeley registering 21 assists, and SUNY-ESF 19. The teams committed 20 turnovers apiece, and no team took a lead larger than seven points the entire game.
The HVIAC title game will feature the top two seeds of the tournament, as the Knights and Panthers will lock horns tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm, with the winner also receiving an automatic bid to the USCAA Division II National Men's Basketball Tournament.
