ROME, Ga. - Tim Miles scored a team high 19 points in his final game at the Cage Center and Berry fended off a furious rally by Covenant as the Vikings defeated the Scots 61-56 Tuesday.
Berry led by as many as 17 points after putting together a 20-3 run that gave the Vikings a 39-22 lead with 3:48 remaining in the first half. But Covenant would score the final 12 points of the half and the first three of the second half to pull to within three points at 39-36.
Berry would hold onto a single-digit lead until Covenant's Rosbie Mutcherson drained a pair of free throws with 3:01 remaining in the game to cap a 7-0 run and tie the score at 56-56.
From that point on, Berry's defense locked up Covenant, holding the Scots scoreless for the remainder of the game.
Still, the score remained tied until Kendall Gadie, another Berry senior playing in his final home game, converted a conventional 3-point play with 1:33 left.
The Scots' Jon DeVries would get a great look from just beyond the arc near the top of the key that would have tied the game, but his shot hit the rim and was hauled in by Miles with 51 seconds on the clock.
After the Vikings called timeout, a long possession resulted in a two-shot foul that sent Berry's Mac Whalen to the line with four seconds remaining. Whalen sank both charity shots to seal the victory.
Seventeen of Miles' 19 points came in the first half. His team-high total marked the 22nd time in 25 games that heled the team in scoring in 2010-11.
He was the lone Berry player to finish the game with a double figure scoring total. David Holloman, who, like Miles, Gadie and Matt Mixer was playing in his final home game of his career, hauled down a game high 11 rebounds.
Covenant's Callum Sears led all players with 27 points.
Berry and Covenant will both compete in a four-team tournament March 4-5 that also features fellow NCAA Division III provisional members Franciscan University and Birmingham-Southern College. Franciscan will host the tournament in Stuebenville, Ohio.
- BerryVikings.com -
