Berkeley (NY) Men’s Basketball Announces 2013-2014 Schedule

Berkeley (NY) Men’s Basketball Announces 2013-2014 Schedule




The Berkeley College (New York) men’s basketball team prepares to begin its 2013-2014 season following a successful 2012-2013 campaign in which the Knights finished with an overall record of 16-8, won their third straight HVIAC championship and sixth in the last eight years, and made their third consecutive appearance in the USCAA Men’s Basketball Division II National Tournament.



For Head Coach Chris Christiansen, now in his 17th season at the helm of Berkeley, his team faces a very competitive 24-game schedule, including eight NCAA Division III opponents, a matchup against the 2013 USCAA Division II champions, and a contest at the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.



To open their campaign, Berkeley makes their first trip to the South with a season-opening tournament in Charlotte, NC against two USCAA opponents, first against host Johnson and Wales University (Fri 11/1) and then the following afternoon (Sat 11/2) facingWarren Wilson College, the reigning USCAA Men’s Division II champion.



The Knights then return to New York to begin a three-game homestand beginning on Sunday, November 17 against Rensselear Polytechnic Institute at BMCC. The Blue and White will seek to avenge a 102-85 loss to the Engineers last year in Troy, NY in the only other meeting between the two clubs. Next Berkeley will host Williamson Free School (Sat 11/23) who last season, as the then second-ranked team in the USCAA, lost to the Knights on their home floor 63-52. Two days later Berkeley closes out the homestand with a HVIAC matchup against Vaughn College at the College of New Rochelle before heading out for an extended road trip that will not have the Knights see their home court until mid-January.



Berkeley opens the month of December with a swing through the state of Vermont with matchups against USCAA opponents Vermont Tech (Sat 12/7), a participant in last year’s USCAA tournament, and the College of Saint Joseph’s (Sun 12/8), who advanced to the semifinals in the USCAA tournament two seasons ago.



The next weekend will see the Knights in Wilkes-Barre, PA as participants in the Monarch Tournament at King’s College, playing the NCAA Division III host Monarchs (Sat 12/14) and either Wilkes University or Susquehanna University the following afternoon (Sun 12/15).



The highlight of the month comes during the holiday break on Friday, December 27 when Berkeley will face their longtime HVIAC rival St Joseph’s College of Brooklyn on the parquet floor of the Barclays Center in a neutral site game. In the past eight seasons either the Knights or the Bears have won the HVIAC championship and last season both teams qualified for the national tournament in their respective divisions.



The Blue and White will close out 2013 with a trip to Salem, MA for NCAA Division III matchups against Endicott College (Sun 12/29) and Bates College (Mon 12/30) in the Salem State Holiday Classic Tournament.



The new year will see the Knights continue as road warriors as they visit Penn State-Dubois (Sat 1/4) in a USCAA matchup and the Culinary Institute a week later (Sun 1/12) in a HVIAC contest before finally seeing their home court against The King’s College (Sat 1/18) at BMCC. Berkeley then quickly will hit the road again to face USCAA and HVIAC rival Albany College of Pharmacy (Sun 1/19) and play a Panther squad that qualified for last year’s national tournament. The Blue and White then head out to historic Valley Forge, PA to face Valley Forge Christian College (Fri 1/31) in the first meeting between the schools.



Berkeley will close out the HVIAC portion of the schedule as they host Pratt (Mon 2/3) at the College of New Rochelle and visit Sarah Lawrence College (Thu 2/6) for the final time as members of the HVIAC as the Gryphons will move next season to the NCAA Division III Skyline Conference.



The Blue and White make their final road trip of the season with a swing through upstate New York facing Davis College (Sat 2/8) in Binghamton, NY and the following day against USCAA opponent SUNY-ESF (Sun 2/9) in Syracuse, NY. The Knights close out the regular season at home against the University of Maine-Fort Kent on Senior Night at the College of New Rochelle.



The HVIAC championship will take place the weekend of February 15-16 and the USCAA National Tournament will commence the week of March 3-8, 2014 and will be hosted by Penn State-Fayette.