By Matthew D. Stokes
BerryVikings.com Staff Writer

ROME, Ga. – Berry's Lake Graham and Mac Whalen tied for game-high honors with 14 points apiece, but the Vikings came up short against visiting Covenant 63-58 in Berry's season finale at the Cage Center on Tuesday evening.

Berry scored the first hoop of the game, but quickly found itself trailing the Scots for the rest of the first half. Covenant's lead was as large as nine points and sat at six as the two teams went to the locker rooms at halftime.

Once again Berry scored the first points in the second half, but found that Covenant seemed to always have a response. Berry came as close as one point from tying the game, but soon fell behind by 10 points and never fully recovered.

"For whatever reason, I felt like we were sluggish," said Berry head coach Jeff Haarlow. "We just didn't function real well tonight."

Graham and Whalen both fouled out in the second half. Covenant's offensive effort was led by Jon DeVries, who had an even 10 points.

The game marked the final game of Berry senior Michael Schulte's three-year career. Before the game, his contributions to the team were acknowledged.

"I can't say enough about Schulte," Haarlow said. "To go from not playing to getting 24 and 26 points in different games this year just speaks to his work ethic."

Schulte had an up-and-down night, scoring the game's first basket with a jumper and taking the game's final shot, a three-pointer that clanked off the rim. He scored eight points to go along with three rebounds and eight turnovers.

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