DANVILLE, Ky. — The Berry College men's basketball team came up short in the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) title game on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Centre Colonels in a tight 72-69 decision despite trailing by 18 points in the opening half.

With the loss, Berry closes its season at 19-9 overall, tying the program's Division III era win record for the second year in a row. Centre claims its first SAA tournament title since 2014. 

After the opening minutes, it appeared that the top-seeded Colonels would run away with the game without breaking a sweat. Centre held an 18 point lead less than eight minutes into the contest, led by senior Perry Ayers. The Vikings battled back to force a 36-36 tie at the break. Berry was able to pull away to an eight point lead with eight minutes to play, but a barrage of three-pointers and solid shooting at the line propelled the Colonels to victory. 

Berry shot 49.1% from the field, but left 10 free throws on the board including eight misses in the second half. Berry dominated in the paint thanks to an 18 point performance from Austin Brooks, but Centre answered with 13 three pointers. 

Brooks led the way and was followed by Ethan Haslam, Micah Johnson and Caleb Haynes who also scored double-digits.