KNIGHTS DROP TWO AT ALBRIGHT TOURNAMENT

Berkeley College's New York men's basketball team, facing their stiffest competition of the early season in playing against two Division III teams in the Wyndham Reading Albright Tip-Off Tournament in Reading, PA last weekend, hung tough against their taller and more experienced opponents, but eventually fell in both games to drop their season record to 2-2.

In the opening game against host Albright College, Berkeley closed an early nine point deficit to five when Isaiah Didier (Brooklyn, NY/Sheephead Bay) hit two free throws to make the score 19-14, but then the Knights went into a scoring drought and fell behind by 24 with eight minutes remaining in the first half and would never fully recover. However, Berkeley rebounded nicely in the second half by outscoring Albright 46-35 to make the final score a respectable 88-70 defeat.

The Knights were led by Joshua Witsell (Jericho, NY/Jericho ) with 16 points and Damir Redzepagic (Bronx , NY/Cardinal Spellman) with 15 points. Kaseem Williams (Brooklyn, NY/Boys & Girls) contributed 15 points and four steals off the bench.

In the consolation game against DeSales University , Berkeley gave the nationally-ranked team (#7 in Division III) all they could handle for the first 13 minutes. Trailing 17-6, the Knights went on an 8-0 on consecutive baskets by Joshua Witsell (Jericho, NY/Jericho ), Stanley Hamp (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth ) and Kaseem Williams (Brooklyn, NY/Boys & Girls) to pull within four at 17-14. But that would be as close as Berkeley would get as DeSales would go on a 31-13 run to close out the half en route to a 92-47 victory.

Witsell led the Knights with 15 points while Keith Myrick (Hamden, CT/Hamden ) added 11 points off the bench. Berkeley’s next game will be on Saturday, December 5, at 2 p.m. when they face Borough of Manhattan Community College.