ROME, Ga. - Tim Miles scored 16 points and nearly helped lead Berry to an upset over Shorter at the Cage Center Monday, but the Hawks scored seven of the game's final 10 points to come away with a 62-58 victory over Berry.

After trailing 28-21 at halftime and then going down by nine points when Shorter's Johnathan Crawford scored on a layup to open the second half, Berry (9-8) roared back into the contest, eventually tying the score 39-39 on Miles' 3-pointer with 12:36 remaining in the game.  That three was part of a 9-0 Berry run that pushed the Vikings out to a 44-39 lead.

Shorter (15-4) would tie the score again at 45-45 and take a 47-45 lead on Willie Woodard's jumper at the 8:46 mark.  After David Holloman knotted the game again with a layup, Shorter would take a 3-point avantage, only to see Berry regain the lead on back-to-back layups by Miles and Holloman, making the score 51-50 with 6:22 left.

The lead would continue to volley back-and-forth, before Crawford, a former Viking who played at Berry as a freshman two years ago before transferring to Wallace State (Ala.) Community College last year and then on to Shorter this season, hit a pair of free throws that gave the Hawks a 56-55 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the game.  Hawks' point guard Eric Nix followed with a layup and Walter Hill added a pair of free throws with 20 seconds left to make it a five-point game.

Still, the Vikings would not go away.  Jonathan Abrams gave the Berry fans hope when he nailed a 3-pointer with 12 seconds to play to pull the Vikes to within 60-58, and after Nix' charity shot made the score 61-58, Miles tried to tie the score with a 3-point attempt of his own.  But the shot missed, forcing Berry to foul Crawford, who added a final free throw to Shorter's cause.

Miles finished with a team-high eight rebounds to go with his 16 points. 

He was joined in double figures by Abrams, who scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Holloman, who scored 10 points.

Walter Hill led the Hawks with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and was one of two Shorter players to record a double-double.  Marqise Wright scored 12 points and led all players with 14 rebounds.

They were joined in double figures by Nix, who added 11 points.

Berry returns to action Wednesday night, when it hosts Young Harris at 8 p.m. 

- BerryVikings.com -