Berkeley Erases 13-Point Deficit To Win Eighth Men's Basketball Title

Final	1	2	T
Vaughn (16-6, 6-1 HVIAC)	33	37	70
Berkeley (21-1, 7-0 HVIAC)	36	54	90

Game Leaders

Vaughn

Pts: Michael Pena - 25

Reb: Sergio Mejia - 9

Ast: Maleec Taylor - 3

Berkeley

Pts: Massiah Merritt - 29

Reb: Johnnie Green - 14

Ast: Massiah Merritt - 7

Team Stats

Vaughn

Berkeley

Field Goals

(25-61)

(31-60)

Field Goal %

41.0%

51.7%

Rebounds

Assists

Turnovers

Pts off Turnovers

2nd Chance Pts

Pts in the Paint

Fastbreak Pts

Bench Pts

full stats

Posted: Feb 21, 2016

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Top-seeded Berkeley College (21-1, 7-0) completed a perfect season in conference play and extended their winning streak to 21 games, overcoming a challenge from No. 2-seed Vaughn College (16-6, 6-1) to claim the 2016 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball championship on Sunday afternoon at the CNR Wellness Center.

Led by Massiah Merritt's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nia Prep) 29 points and seven assists, Berkeley claims their eighth conference championship and fifth in the last six years. For his efforts, Merritt was named Tournament MVP and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, joined by teammate Johnnie Green (Brooklyn, N.Y./EBC Bushwick) who posted a 28-point, 14-rebound double-double in the title game.

Vaughn was led by 2015-16 Player of the Year Michael Pena (Dumont, N.J./Dumont High School), who had 25 points, seven rebounds and five steals and Sergio Mejia (New York, N.Y./Martin Luther King) who contributed a near double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds, both also earning spots on the All-Tournament Team.

Pena's 16 first-half points helped the Warriors pull out to a 27-14 lead nearing the midway point of the opening period before the Knights closed out the period outscoring Vaughn 22-6 to carry a 36-33 lead into the lockers and never trailed again.

Berkeley came alive in the second half and posted 54 points on 54.8 percent shooting (17-31), including six trifectas, as Merritt and Green combined for 32 points in the stanza to thwart any ideas of a Vaughn upset.

With the victory, the Knights helped solidify their No. 1 ranking in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Coaches' Poll and claimed the league's automatic bid to the upcoming USCAA National Championships, where they will look to defend their national title from March 1-5 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The full tournament field and seeding for the 10-team championship will be announced on Wednesday, February 24th at 11 a.m.

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