The New York men's basketball team defeated DeSales University in the first round of the Red Robin Holiday Tournament at DeSales to advance to the championship game of the tournament.
To get there the Knights would have to overcome a three pointer at the buzzer in regulation by the Bulldogs to send the game into overtime. In the overtime Berkeley would score the first six points and never look back in securing an 83-77 upset win over the Bulldogs. It is the first time DeSales (4-6) will play in the consolation game of its Holiday Tournament which started in 2001-02. The Bulldogs will take on SUNY-Potsdam (4-6) who fell to Alvernia University (7-3), 60-56, in the other opening round game on Tuesday evening in Billera Hall.
The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead on the very first possession of the game on a three-pointer, but from that point forward it was all Berkeley (8-4) except for a late rally at the end of the second half. The Knights used an 11-1 run over the next five minutes to lead, 11-4, and extended that advantage to as many as 16 points (37-21) in the first half. DeSales scored six straight points late in the half to pull within 10, before settling for a 12-points deficit (39-27) at the break. The Bulldogs shot just 37.0 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes as compared to 53.8 percent shooting for the Knights.
The second-half saw the Bulldogs chip away at the lead on several occasions, but each time Berkeley had the answer. The Bulldogs got within five (39-34) early in the half but a three from junior guard Kaseem Williams (Boys and Girls/Brooklyn, NY) and five straight points from sophomore forward Jose Stable (EBC for Public Service/Brooklyn, NY) pushed the lead back to 11 points with 12:57 left.
The overtime period quickly went Berkeley's way as the Knights scored six straight points to take a 74-68 lead and DeSales was never able to get within one possession on the scoreboard, eventually falling by six. Berkeley got 29 points and seven rebounds from Stable, 25 points, eight rebounds, and six assists from Williams, and 12 points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks from sophomore center Elijah Craig (Seward Park/Brooklyn, NY).
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Berkeley College endeavors to provide an athletic program from which participating students can derive all of the benefits that involvement in competitive sports confers. The guiding principle behind its athletic programs is the belief in their educational value for the students.
