The Berkeley College men's basketball team halted its two-game losing skid on Wednesday evening, dominating the Warriors of Vaughn College by a score of 89-66 in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. The game took place at the Borough of Manhattan Community College in Lower Manhattan. With the victory, the Knights improved to 4-6 on the year (2-0 HVIAC), while Vaughn slid to 6-7 (2-2 HVIAC).
In what could have been deemed as a figurative "must-win" situation for Berkeley, five Knights finished in double figures, including Daquan Jackson. The 6'5 freshman imposed his will on Vaughn College, connecting on nine of his 14 attempts from the floor to finish with a game-high 21 points. He also snatched six rebounds, as swell. Robert Soriano knocked down four shots from long range, finalizing his evening with 16 points, a game-high nine assists, four rebounds, and three steals, and Joshua Hardy posted a double-double with 14 points, 13 caroms, and four assists. Tristan Polnitz narrowly missed a double-double, netting 11 points and grabbing nine rebounds, and finally, It was sharpshooter Nigel Hemingway looking fresh in his return, as he drained two triples, finishing with 10 points and three rebounds.
Despite the loss for Vaughn College, Kemarlie McLean put forth a solid effort, hitting three shots from downtown to finish with a team-high 19 points, six rebounds, and a pair of steals. Michael Reed drained four three-point baskets on his way to finalizing his evening with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Louis Roche netted 14 points while snatching three caroms. Finally, it was Marcus Heron turning in a versatile effort, scoring 11 points while grabbing six rebounds and recording a team-high five assists.
McLean self-handedly gave Vaughn College an early 6-0 advantage, draining three-point baskets on his team's opening two possessions. Berkeley raced back, going on a 7-0 run that spanned just 47 seconds to grab a 7-6 lead. That aforementioned spurt featured a converted three-point basket by Soriano, a thunderous made dunk by Amir Assani, and a drained layup by Polnitz. The teams would exchange leads six times over the ensuing 4:27, before Berkeley took the lead for good on a Daquan Jackson layup (19-17 with 12:25 remaining in the opening half). Berkeley led by as many as 25 before taking a 49-28 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Knights went up by 26 points in the second session, and although Vaughn did slice Berkeley's advantage to 15 with 7:30 to go, the Warriors were never able to inch any closer than that, as Berkeley would eventually go on to slam the door with a convincing 23-point victory.
Berkeley was efficient shooting the basketball tonight, knocking down 36 of its 86 attempts from the field (41.9 percent). On the flip side, Vaughn converted on only 20 hoops all evening, shooting 30.3 percent from the field (20-66). Vaughn did fare better at the charity stripe, draining 15 of 18 attempts there (83.3 percent). The Knights misfired on nine freebees (10-19, 52.6 percent). Berkeley dominated the glass, snatching 59 rebounds to the opposition's 42. The Knights also shared the ball exceptionally well, recording 23 assists to the Warriors 10.
Sunday will be the final contest of calendar year 2019 for the Knights, as Berkeley will welcome the Bobcats of Bryant & Stratton-Albany to the Borough of Manhattan Community College. The contest is scheduled to begin at 12:30pm.
