The Knights – who trailed 31-27 at halftime and by as many
as nine points in the second half – found themselves down 73-66 with just 4:00
remaining in the game. From there, Berkeley
College turned up the
voltage and stormed back. In a span of 49 seconds, sophomore guard Hassan
Abdullah would connect on a three-point basket and later drain a pair of free
throws to pull his team to within two points. That was followed by a converted
layup by junior forward Carl O’Neil. With 2:44 to go, the game was tied at 73
apiece.
Valley
Forge Christian
College would
retake the lead when senior guard Antonio Malone would bank-in a layup to put
the Patriots up 75-73 with 1:48 remaining. 22 seconds later, Berkeley tied the game when O’Neil dropped in
a pair of free throws. With just 86 seconds left on the clock, the game was
knotted at 75.
Patriots’ junior guard Kevin Mack would knock down the
second of two free throw attempts with 1:16 left to put Valley
Forge Christian College back up 76-75, but a layup by Knights
freshman forward John Noel pushed Berkeley
back ahead, 77-76. Later – with 25 seconds left - Patriots freshman guard Tony Hazzard would
connect on just the backend of two shots from the charity stripe, leaving the
game tied at 77-all.
Following a 30 timeout by Berkeley College Head Coach
Anthony Calabrese, the Knights let the clock bleed down as much as possible
before sophomore guard Dukens Germain would connect on a jumper to give Berkeley a 79-77 lead. Valley Forge Christian College
had one final chance to tie or win the game, but Lance Harris’ three-point
attempt at the buzzer was off the mark, giving the Knights a thrilling
come-from-behind victory.
The game-winning basket by Germain overshadowed what had
been a rather quiet evening for the Columbia
High School product, as
he finalized his night with eight points, nine rebounds, and four assists. Sophomore
guard Andrew Tomlin scored a team-high 15 points for the Knights, while also
adding three steals. Abdullah dropped-in 11 points, and Noel netted 10.
Despite the loss for the Patriots, Valley Forge Christian
College was paced by Mack
who connected on 10 of his 18 attempts from the floor en route to finishing with
a game-high 26 points. He also snatched nine rebounds and dished five assists. Junior
guard Jean LeBlanc dropped-in 13 points, while Harris and Hazzard scored 11 and
10 points, respectively.
The teams were almost even in all major categories. The
Patriots connected on 42.6 percent of their shots from the floor (26-61), while
Berkeley hit on
26 of their 65 attempts for the night (40 percent). The Knights’ 75 percent
conversion rate on free throws (21-28) was slightly higher than Valley Forge Christian College’s,
who nailed 72.4 percent of theirs (21-29). The Knights held a 40-36 edge on the
glass, while the Patriots dished one more assist (13 to Berkeley’s 12) and tallied nine steals to the
Knights’ six.
Berkeley College will next board a bus on Monday, as the team
will travel to Uniontown, Pennsylvania to participate in the 2014
USCAA National Basketball Tournament. Berkeley College – who earned the No. 7 seed in
the tournament - will square off against the No. 10 seeded Roaring Lions of
Penn State Fayette on Wednesday evening in the tournament quarterfinals, with start
time for that contest scheduled for 8:00pm.
