2/17/2007 - (Riverdale, N.Y.) - For the second straight season, St. Joseph's and Berkeley College will play for the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference (HVMAC) Basketball Championship as the top two seeds advanced to the Finals on Saturday in impressive fashion. Top-seeded St. Joseph's saw 10 different players score points as the Bears opened an 18-point halftime lead en route to an 86-59 win over the Cannoneers for their third win over Pratt this season. During the second game of the Saturday twinbill, Berkeley defeated the Mount Saint Vincent JV team for the fourth time this season, 90-57 as six different Knights scored in double figures. The top-two seeds will meet at noon on Sunday for the HVMAC crown.

St. Joseph's (19-7) wasted little time jumping all over a Pratt Institute team that was missing leading scorer Darnell Jones-Bey, who missed the game with an ankle injury, and his presence was missed as the Bears jumped out to a 18-6 lead, and never looked back. St. Joseph's shot 43% during the first 20 minutes, while the Cannoneers shot only 29%, allowed St. Joseph's to open up an 18-point halftime lead, 43-25. The Bears quickly extended the lead to 25 points during the second half and cruised to victory as St. Joseph's converted 16 of 32 second-half field goal attempts to put the game out of reach.  St. Joseph's was led by Lukasz Klimaszewski (Queens, NY/St. John's Prep), who scored 14 points, and added eight rebounds, while Mike Dziewit chipped in 13 points. Sophomore Dane Bruce (Elmont, NY/Elmont HS) and junior Chris Olaskiewicz (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) both had monster games on the boards as the duo combined for 23 of the Bears' 52 rebounds. The Bears shot an outstanding 46% from the floor to provide the different during a game that was otherwise statistically even.

Pratt (7-14) received 26 points and 13 rebounds from Nathaniel Ripp (New York, NY/LaGuardia HS), while Goran Krstic (New York, NY/LaGuardia HS) chipped in 19 points.

With Mount Saint Vincent's two leading scorers not playing, Berkeley (11-5) wasted little time taking over on Saturday, scoring the game's first 10 points and outscoring the Dolphins 27-6 during the first 10 minutes of play. From there, the rout was on as the Knights shot 52% during the first half and led 55-23 at the break. The second half saw a swing in momentum as Mount Saint Vincent, led by freshman Travis Page (Norwalk, CT/Fairfield Prep), who scored a game-high 23 points, turned their play up a notch and at one point trailed by as few as 22 points, but a late Berkeley run brought the advantage to over 30 again. Mount Saint Vincent was outscored 35-34 during the second half as they 38% from the floor compared to Berkeley's 34%. For the game, Berkeley shot 42% compared to the Mount's 30 and the Knights also had a 64-47 rebounding edge.

For Berkeley (11-5) Jazmel Blake (Brooklyn, NY/Adalai Stevenson HS) registered a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Kempes Gilles (Jamaica, NY/Springfield Gardens HS) scored 14 points. Overall, five Knights scored in double figures.

St. Joseph's and Berkeley will meet on Sunday at noon for the HVMAC crown. The game will be played at Mount Saint Vincent.