BERKELEY LOSES FIRST TWO CONFERENCE GAMES

Berkeley College's New York men’s basketball team's early season struggles continued in conference play as the Knights lost to rivals Vaughn College 71-49 and Culinary Institute of America 83-75 in consecutive games to fall to 0-2 in the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference and 2-5 overall.

It was an uphill battle all night for Berkeley against Vaughn, losing one of its top players, Damir Redzepagic (Cardinal Spellman HS/Bronx, NY), to injury in the first three minutes. The Warriors held a substantial advantage on the boards, out-rebounding the Knights 49-26; nevertheless, Berkeley managed to stay close and trailed only by eight 55-47 with seven minutes to play before Vaughn would go on a 14-0 run to put the game out of reach and end a seven-game losing streak to Berkeley. Kaseem Williams (Boys & Girls HS/Brooklyn, NY) led Berkeley (2-4) with 13 points and six rebounds while Joshua Witsell (Jericho HS/Jericho, NY) added 10 points.

In a Sunday matinee at Culinary, Berkeley got off to a fast start in the first half, leading by as many as 12 points. The Knights held a 47-40 lead with 16 minutes to play in the second half when the Steels ran off 14 consecutive points to take a seven point lead 54-47 and led by as many as 11 points before Berkeley would bounce back. Poor free throw shooting plagued the Knights down the stretch and allowed Culinary to eventually hold off the Knights and send Berkeley to its fifth straight defeat.

Williams led the Knights once again by scoring a double-double with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Francis Edouard (Nazareth HS/Brooklyn, NY) scored 15 points and contributed three blocked shots in the loss.

Berkeley’s last action of 2009 will come this Saturday afternoon at 3 P.M. against non-conference Marywood University in Scranton, PA.

BULLDOGS PLACE THIRD AT TOURNAMENT

For the second consecutive year the Berkeley College New Jersey men's basketball team lost to Rowan University in the first round of the Heritage's Dairy Stores Classic only to bounce back and defeat Penn State Brandywine in the consolation game to come in third.

The Bulldogs gave Rowan a much tougher time this year than last year keeping the game close for most of the first half before a 14-4 run at the end of the half produced a 44 to 25 advantage for the Profs. Unlike the previous year when Rowan defeated Berkeley 99 to 45, the Bulldogs fought hard in the second half keeping Rowan in check offensively for a final score of 82 to 60.

The Bulldogs were led by junior Donovan Black (Morristown/Morristown, NJ) with 15 points and freshman Jarrel Young (Newark Tech/Newark, NJ) with 12 points.

In the consolation game, the Bulldogs were down at halftime 25 to 23 to Penn State before Young rallied the team to a 71 to 65 victory. Young led all scorers with 23 points while also chipping in with five rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. Freshman Sherone Nelson (Eastside/Paterson, NJ) had a game-high 16 rebounds and added 10 points.

The Bulldogs are now 3-7 on the season. Their next game is Tuesday, December 15 at 7 P.M. at Rutgers-Newark.

BERKELEY FALLS TO BMCC

After starting the season with two straight victories, Berkeley College fell under .500 for the first time after dropping their third straight game, 94-55 to Borough of Manhattan Community College last Sunday at BMCC.

Facing a quicker and larger Panther team, the Knights (2-3) fell behind early as BMCC took advantage of their size and speed to race out to a double digit lead that eventually grew to 30 points in the second half before the Knights would mount a comeback.

Kaseem Williams (Brooklyn, NY /Boys & Girls HS) scored six points and two steals and Stanley Hamp (Brooklyn, NY / Nazareth HS) netted four points during a 16-4 run that cut the lead to eighteen 65-47 before BMCC would go on another run of its own to put the game out of reach.
Williams led all Berkeley scorers with 20 points, while Yanny Cruz (New York, NY / Manhattan Center for Science HS) added eight points and four blocks while Francis Edouard (Brooklyn, NY / Nazareth HS) added five points and three rebounds in limited action.

Berkeley’s next action comes this weekend in back-to-back games against conference rivals Vaughn College on Saturday, December 12, at 7:30 in Corona , NY and Culinary Institute of America on Sunday, December 13 at 1:00 in Hyde Park , NY .

DREW HOLDS OFF BERKELEY

The Drew University Rangers dominated the boards and held off a second half 15-0 run by Berkeley College last night to defeat the Bulldogs 77 to 66. The loss extends Berkeley's losing streak to five straight games as they fall to 2-6 on the season while the Rangers improve their record to 2-3.

The game remained close for most of the first half before the Rangers went on a 18-2 run to increase their four point lead to a commanding 20 point lead and led at halftime 44 to 29.

Berkeley, however, would go on a run of their own in the second half to close the gap to 51 to 47 with a little over 13 minutes to play before Drew recovered and pushed the lead back to over 10 and held on for the victory.

The Bulldogs were led once again by freshman guard Jarrel Young (Newark Tech/Newark) who led all scorers with 18 points and freshmen Devin Bennett (Manchester/Paterson) grabbed 10 rebounds. The Bulldogs were outrebounded by a 45 to 33 margin.