NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — Top-seeded Berkeley College (21-4) withstood another strong challenge from No. 2 New Rochelle (17-10) and pulled away in the final minutes for a 92-82 triumph to capture the 2019 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Sunday.
For the Knights, it was their fifth consecutive title and league-leading 11th overall. Scoring 18 points off the bench in the championship game with five three-pointers, junior Nigel Hemingway (Brooklyn, N.Y./Grand St Campus) was selected as Tournament MVP.
In a game that featured 10 ties and 15 lead changes, Berkeley’s reign atop the conference was put to the test as the host Blue Angels led for the majority of the first half, building as large as a nine-point lead and carrying a 48-47 lead into the intermission.
The Knights stormed out of the lockers on an 8-0 run to build their largest lead of the game, 55-48. A 10-3 Blue Angel run later in the period capped by a Dequan Jones three-pointer knotted the game back at 62-all at the 11:43 mark and neither team led by more than five over a tenuous next 10 minutes of play.
Berkeley clinging to a 79-78 lead with 2:45 remaining in regulation, a Hemingway trifecta jump started a 7-1 spurt that pushed the Knights lead to 86-79 with 1:35 to go and CNR couldn’t get any closer than five with Berkeley maintaining their separation from the free throw line.
Shamiek Sheppard (Brooklyn, N.Y./South Shore) led four Knights in double figures with 21 points and nine rebounds. Hemingway and Ricardo Ayuso (Brooklyn, N.Y./Redemption Christian Academy) chipped in 18 points each.
Junior Hunter Schenkel (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) paced four Blue Angels with a game-highs of 28 points and seven steals, also draining five three-pointers. Glen O’Loughlin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) added 20 points off the bench on an 8-of-9 shooting effort with seven boards.
In the semifinals, Berkeley broke open a one-point halftime lead shooting 52 percent in the second half to defeat No. 4 Albany Pharmacy, 91-81. In the second semifinal, Schenkel scored a game-high 19 to lead 13 different Blue Angels to score at least two points in a 94-60 triumph over No. 3 Davis, making their first tournament appearance.
Berkeley also claims the league's automatic bid to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championships seeking their fifth consecutive national championship. The full tournament field for the 10-team championship held in Uniontown, Pennsylvania will be announced on February 23 on www.theuscaa.com.
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2019 HVIAC Men's Basketball Championships
Hosted by The College of New Rochelle
Semifinals
Saturday, February 16
#1 Berkeley def. #4 Albany Pharmacy, 91-81
#2 New Rochelle def. #3 Davis, 94-60
Championship
Sunday, February 17
#1 Berkeley def. #2 New Rochelle, 92-82
Tournament & Regular Season Champions
Berkeley College
Tournament Runner-Up
College of New Rochelle
Tournament MVP
Nigel Hemingway - Berkeley
Past Champions
- 2018: Berkeley
- 2017: Berkeley
- 2016: Berkeley
- 2015: Berkeley
- 2014: St. Joseph's
- 2013: Berkeley
- 2012: Berkeley
- 2011: Berkeley
- 2010: St. Joseph's
- 2009: Berkeley
- 2008: St. Joseph's
- 2007: Berkeley
- 2006: Berkeley
- 2005: Bard