Berkeley Overcomes Upset Bid In Semifinals for Sixth Straight Men's Basketball Title

Final	1	2	T
#2 Albany Pharmacy (11-14)	24	29	53
#1 Berkeley (17-8)	42	48	90

Game Leaders

#2 Albany Pharmacy

Pts: Caleb Scrime - 14

Reb: Evan Georgio - 12

Ast: John Ambert - 5

#1 Berkeley

Pts: Joseph Caraballo - 23

Reb: Robert Soriano - 8

Ast: Robert Soriano - 10

Team Stats

#2 Albany Pharmacy

#1 Berkeley

Field Goals

(17-60)

(33-73)

Field Goal %

28.3%

45.2%

Rebounds

Assists

Turnovers

Pts off Turnovers

2nd Chance Pts

Pts in the Paint

Fastbreak Pts

Bench Pts

full stats

Posted: Feb 16, 2020

DIX HILLS, N.Y. — After withstanding an upset bid in the semifinals, top-seeded Berkeley College defeated No. 2 seed Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 90-53, to win the 2020 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship on Sunday afternoon at Five Towns College.

With the win, the Knights (17-8) win their league-leading 12th title and sixth straight. Sophomore Turray Bynum (Bronx, N.Y.) was named Tournament MVP scoring a tournament-best 32 points for the weekend and 18 points in the title game.

In a pair of thrilling semifinals, Berkeley was put to the test by No. 4 SUNY ESF in the first semifinal. The Mighty Oaks led by as many as seven and by five with seven minutes in regulation, 60-55, before the Knights regained the lead with an 8-0 run. A crucial Bynum three-pointer put the Knights up 75-71 with under a minute to play and the Mighty Oaks had a chance to tie at the buzzer but a three-point attempt by Henry Pflaumer (Elba, N.Y.) would fall short and the Knights escaped the upset, 76-73.

Bynum shared team-high honors with Tristan Polnitz (Mount Laurel, N.J.) both scoring 14 points for Berkeley. Daquan Jackson (Bronx, N.Y.) posted a 13-point, 16-rebound double-double. Pflaumer led four in double-figures for SUNY ESF scoring 28 points with seven three-pointers. Cole Paradies (Oswego, N.Y.) recorded a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double and Reid Patchett (Geneva, N.Y.) scored 14 points.

In the Saturday night finale with both teams seeking their first finals appearance, No. 3 Five Towns held a 60-52 lead with 9:01 to play on their home floor, before Evan Georgio (Bayside, N.Y.) scored 10 points in a 12-4 run to tie the game at 64-all with 3:25 in regulation. Kyree Sawyer (Bay Shore, N.Y.), named Player of the Year in post-tournament ceremonies, put Five Towns on top with an and-one at 2:25 until Caleb Scrime drilled two crucial three-pointers in a span of just over a minute to give the Panthers a 75-71 lead with 42 ticks remaining and the Sound couldn’t get any closer than three, ultimately falling 80-76.

Nate Beltran (Reading, Pa.) led the Panthers to their first title game with 22 points, Georgio finished with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double, and Scrime chipped in 18 points. Sawyer led all scorers with 27 points for the Sound, while Damani Merritt had 18 points and Nigel Braithwaite Jr. (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) added 11.

The title bout saw the Knights race out to a 12-4 lead in the opening seven minutes and extended their lead to 42-24 at the intermission. The champions shot 45 percent and had all 10 players that saw the floor contribute a point. The Knights overwhelmed the Panthers on the defensive end allowing just 28 percent shooting and forcing 23 turnovers.

Joseph Caraballo scored a game-high 23 points off the bench to lead Berkeley. Bynum followed with 18 while Joshua Hardy (Clarksburg, Md.) and Denzel Bush (Staten Island, N.Y.) chipped in 11 each. Scrime paced the Panthers in defeat with 14 points and Georgio followed with 10.

Berkeley also claims the league's automatic bid to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) Small College National Championships and will seek their fifth national championship in six years. The full tournament field for 10-team championship held in Uniontown, Pennsylvania will be announced on February 23.

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