MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - Men's Basketball fell in their second game of the season to number 21-ranked Maryville Scots 68-53. The game fell out of reach early with the Scots creating a double-digit lead midway through the first half. 

The first half was dominated by Maryville as they were up 42-22, going into halftime. Nile King picked up right where he left off the previous night, scoring the first bucket of the game for the Vikings. Canon Armstead followed the same script, making his first two three-point attempts of the game. Armstead led the Vikings at the break with seven points. The Scots then jumped out to a 23-13 lead from a 9-point unanswered scoring run. Maryville was able to keep the double-digit lead for the remainder of the half, thanks to a heavy dose of points scored in the paint. 

The second half started with the Vikings missing out on multiple three-point attempts, which seemed to be a constant theme early in the game. Berry was 3 of14 from three at the beginning of the second half. Cameron Pope finally found a rhythm in the second half, scoring for the Vikings with a transition layup. The Vikings started an early second-half rally, scoring 13 unanswered before the Scots finally found the bottom of the net 9 minutes into the period. Isaac Plavich and Drew Winegarden both connected from beyond the arc during the run. The lead was cut to ten before Maryville quickly extended the lead back to 16 before a Viking timeout. Maryville held the lead for the remainder of the game to defeat the Vikings in the final game of the Viking Tip-Off-Classic. 

The story of the game was the shooting percentage for the Vikings, as the Vikings finished with a 29 percent field goal percentage and 10 of 32 from three. Pope and King led the way for the Vikings, both finishing with 12 points. Defensively, Berry created 13 steals and three blocks over the course of the game.  

The Vikings are back in action Friday, Nov 14th at Asbury University.