The King's College Men's Basketball team traveled to Dix Hills, Long Island on Saturday to take on #1 seed Berkeley in the HVIAC Conference Semifinals. This marked the first time King's qualified for the men's basketball playoffs since joining the conference in 2013.
The game was also the college basketball finale for two King's seniors who were named captains for this season and have been starters for their entire careers at King's. Tyler Bowens had 19 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, and Jordan Bishop scored 21 and 6 rebounds in a game that the Lions led 49-48 at halftime.
The Lions put up a valiant fight but the talent and depth of the Berkeley bench was too much to withstand over the full 40 minutes as the Knights' bench accounted for 59 points. King's did not go quietly and may, in fact, have played their best game of the season as they held a 48% to 42% edge in field goal percentage. Junior Jimmy Nguyen rained 25 points as he knocked down 8 of 16 three-point attempts, he added 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. Junior Mali Binen had a double-double with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. Freshman Morten Hansen scored 6 points along with 8 rebounds and an assist, while sophomore Nick Rommel chipped in with 2 points and a rebound. Freshman Cade Nicholson contributed an assist.
Berkeley came out strong took the lead just over 2 minutes into the second half. They would never relinquish that lead and at the 10-minute mark they held an 81-61 advantage. But King's wouldn't fold and begin to mount a comeback. They cut the margin to 9 points at 91-82 with just over three minutes to play. But despite the heroic efforts of the Lions, Berkeley held the line and wouldn't allow their lead to decrease further. When the final buzzer sounded Berkeley had the 107-92 victory. Berkeley would go on to win their 7th consecutive HVIAC championship the next day when they defeated Word of Life 89-79 in the finals.
At the conclusion of the tournament individual players were recognized for their performances during the season. The King's College junior guard Mali Binen (Adana, Turkey) was named the 2021-22 Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball Player of the Year as the league announced the members of the All-HVIAC Men's Basketball Team at the 2022 HVIAC Tournament at Five Towns College.
Collecting a league-leading four Player of the Week honors, Binen averaged a league-best 25.4 points on 46.5 percent shooting in conference games and helped the Lions to their first tournament appearance. He also dished out a 4.0 assists a game, 5th in the conference, and pulled down 7.4 boards a night, 7th in the league.
Binen and fellow junior Jimmy Nguyen were named to the HVIAC All-Conference Team.
