Release courtesy of Berkeley Athletics
The Berkeley College men's basketball team played its first game ever against the College of New Rochelle on Wednesday evening, and the Knights came away with a high-scoring, 119-103 victory at the Wellness Center on the campus of the College of New Rochelle. The victory improved Berkeley to an unblemished 10-0 on the year (2-0 HVIAC), and gave the Knights their 34th consecutive program win. The Blue Angels dropped to 5-5 with the loss, and 2-1 in conference action.
Six players scored in double figures for the surging Knights, including newcomer Ricardo Ayuso, as he scored a team-high 23 points while connecting on nine of his 14 attempts from the floor. He also grabbed eight rebounds and tallied two assists. Dondre Simmons connected on four shots from downtown to finish with 22 points and four rebounds, and veteran Stephon Jennings added 20 points and nine caroms.
Also contributing for the Knights was Johnnie Green, as he netted 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He also added two steals. Emmanuel Osama also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Massiah Merritt finalized his versatile night with 13 points, 11 assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Berkeley College connected on 50.6 percent of its attempts from the floor for the evening (41-81), while also out-rebounding the Blue Angels 35-25. The Knights forced 17 opposing turnovers, and the opportunistic Knights scored 22 points off of those. Berkeley also scored 58 points in the paint compared to just 22 for the College of New Rochelle.
Despite the loss for New Rochelle, the Blue Angels got a dazzling performance from Jack Tisdale, as he recorded a double-double with a game-high 36 points (16-17 FT) and 10 assists. Hunter Schenkel added 35 points and eight rebounds, and Kobe Tellford finalized his evening with 13 points, seven rebounds, and two assists.
The Knights will now have 14 days off before returning to action on December 28, as Berkeley College will take on Cincinnati-Clermont. Start-time for that contest is scheduled for 2:00pm.
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Release courtesy of CNR Athletics
NEW ROCHELLE, NY - It was an early season battle of the league's unbeatens Wednesday night in the Wellness Center. The College of New Rochelle and Berkeley College (NY) men's basketball teams gave the packed house lots to cheer and jeer about in a contest that saw 222 points scored. In the end, the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference reigning champs outpaced CNR to win 119-103.
The loss drops CNR to 2-1 in the HVIAC and 5-5 overall, while Berkeley stays undefeated at 3-0 in league play and 10-0 overall.
CNR fell behind early and by the 7:00 minute mark in the 1st, saw itself down by 15 to the high-powered offense of Berkeley. But, the resilient Blue Angels kept the game in reach, twice getting it to within nine points in the final moments. However, a 5-0 run in the final minute pushed the Knights lead to 14 going into the half.
Berkeley built up a 17 point lead with 16:37 to go on a three-pointer by Dondre Simmons, but then it started raining long range shots for CNR. Freshmen Hunter Schenkel (Sayville, NY) hit a three and seconds later a long jumper to close it to 12. Junior Jack Tisdale (Dayton, OH) followed with a three from downtown to make it very interesting. After a missed three by Berkeley, Tisdale found Schenkel in the corner, canned another three closing the game to 67-61 and setting the crowd into a frenzy and forcing a timeout.
But, from that point on CNR couldn't close the gap any further and fouls plagued the Blue Angels as two key players fouled out and allowed Berkeley to build up a double digit lead and go on to the win.
Both Tisdale and Schenkel had career nights, scoring 36 and 35, respectively. Freshmen Kob Tellford (Brooklyn, NY)added 13 and freshmen Matthew Dean (Marlboro, NJ) added 12.
The big story of the night was rebounding and depth. Berkeley outrebounded CNR 58-38 and Berkeley had six different players hit for double digits, led by Ricardo Ayuso's 23.
CNR is back in action on Saturday when they travel to Pine Manor.
