DANVILLE, KY – The Vikings were in action on Friday night, where they dropped a close one by a final score of 82-77.
Isaac Martin came alive in this one for the Vikings with 16 points and three rebounds. Mason Lawrence poured in a career-high 15 points while Cam Pope sent through 14 points and grabbed 9 rebounds to pace the Viking attack.
Berry began the night with a tough bucket off a drop step from Mason Lawrence to give Berry an early 2-0 advantage. Cam Pope then got in on the action after a Colonel three, as he weaved his way to the baseline and finished with his left hand to give Berry a 4-3 lead. With 16 minutes to play, Bennett Frazer spun to the basket beautifully to give Berry a 10-8 advantage. On the next Viking possession, Isaac Martin got loose and buried a three to give Berry a 13-10 advantage with 15 minutes to play in the first half.
Out of the timeout, Ryan Luttrell faced up a Colonel defender and drained a top-of-the-key triple to give Berry a 6-point lead with 13 minutes left in the first half. Cam Pope continued to orchestrate off the pick and roll, finding Lawrence for an easy layup with ten minutes to play, giving Berry a seven-point lead.
Centre battled back to tie the game at 28 with 6:49 to play in the first half, sparking a Viking timeout. Down the stretch of the half, Berry's offense got going with yet another Lawrence basket, as he leaned to the corner of the basket to finish a layup and give Berry a two point lead with less than four minutes left in the first half. The two teams continued to spar in the final minutes of the fiery first half, but the Colonels had the upper hand at the break with a 43-42 lead over the Vikings.
Isaac Martin got the second half going as he warded off his defender and kissed a shot off the glass to give Berry back a 44-43 lead. The Colonels scored 11 of the next 17 points , though, to take a 54-49 lead, before Ryan Luttrell answered with a tough bucket off the glass to cut the lead to three. Down five with just over 9 minutes left, Grant Stubbs drained a three off a Cam Pope dish to cut the Centre lead to two, 61-63.
With under four minutes to play, the two teams continued to trade baskets, with the Colonels nursing a 73-68 advantage. Still down 6, Isaac Martin came up with a pivotal drive and layup to keep the Vikings in striking distance, before the Vikings got a big stop and a Winegarden layup on the other end to cut the Centre lead to just two points with a minute and five seconds to play.
After two free throws from Centre to extend the lead back to four, an offensive foul on Isaac Martin made the Viking chances look bleak. Great defensive pressure from the Vikings led to Cam Pope knocking in a layup to cut the deficit back to two with 26 seconds to play. Centre free throws would salt the game away though, as they won 82-77.
The Vikings will be back in action on Sunday as they take on Sewanee.
