MOUNT BERRY, Ga. - The Berry College men's basketball team took on Southwestern University Friday night at the Cage Center. Berry was not able to come out on top, falling 75-71.
Southwestern was able to jump out to a 7-0 start before
Cameron Pope got the offense going with a three-point shot. The Pirates kept adding on, extending the lead to ten just after an early timeout.
Canon Armstead and
Will Smith both responded with threes of their own to cut into that early Pirate lead. Pope continued with his hot hand, hitting a second three to tie the game at 16-16 with 13 minutes left in the game. Armstead then drilled a three from the top of the key to give the Vikings their first lead of the game with ten minutes to go in the half.
Ryan Luttrell came off the bench to do what he does best and knocked down two threes to give Berry a 34-26 lead with four minutes to play in the first half. Southwestern fought back to a three-point deficit as Berry led 39-36 going into halftime.
Southwestern was able to tie the game up at 44 a piece until Luttrell hit another three at the beginning of the second half. Both teams traded scores as Berry remained ahead 56-50 with ten minutes to go. The Pirates managed to regain the lead for the first time in the half with a layup to take a 63-62 lead with four minutes left in the game. Going down the stretch, Southwestern knocked down a huge three to hold a four-point advantage with 1:18 left in the game. Pope came out of the timeout with a and-one layup to get the game back to a one-point deficit. The attempt was not enough to mount a late game comeback with the Vikings falling in the end.
Berry is back in action this Sunday for senior day against Trinity University.
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