ROME, Ga. – Berry men's basketball fell to Southern Athletic Association foe Millsaps in the final seconds, 70-68, on Friday evening. Ryan Berger scored the winning layup for the visitors on 70-foot inbounds pass.
Jonathan Abrams netted a game and career-high 29 points for Berry. Freshmen Devan Bruce and Jordan Teems had 11 and 10 points respectively for the Vikings.
Berry fell to 5-19 on the season and 2-11 in SAA games. Millsaps upped its record to 5-19 and 3-10.
Abrams was fouled with less than two seconds left. He missed the first, but made the second shot. The Majors' Tully Gilligan quickly grabbed the ball for the inbounds and threw the long strike to Berger who made the shot just before time expired.
Berry led, 29-24, with 4:33 in the first half after two Bruce free throws. Millsaps responded with five unanswered points to knot up the game, 29-29. The Majors finished with a Kevin Wilson three-pointer in the closing seconds to claim a six-point advantage at halftime, 37-31.
A 7-0 Berry run trimmed Millsaps' lead to four points, 45-41, at 13:05. Teems drained a deep three to draw Berry within three, 49-46, with under 12 minutes to go. Abrams cut the deficit down to two with another trey at 9:04, making it 51-49. Mac Whalen nailed all three of his attempts at the charity strip at 8:15 after being fouled behind the arc, 54-52.
A Murray Kastner jumper stretched Millsaps' lead back to eight points at 5:10. Abrams swished from downtown with under four minutes on the clock, drawing Berry to within three, 64-61. Another Abrams' three-pointer put the game into a deadlock, 64-64, with 2:42 remaining. Millsaps broke the 64-64 tie with a Kastner three at 2:19, giving the team a 67-64 edge.
Abrams hit a three with 20.7 seconds left, bringing Berry within a point, 68-67. Following a missed Millsaps one-and-one free throw, Gilligan (team-high 16 points) fouled Abrams on a drive to the basket with 1.4 seconds on the board. He missed his first attempt at the line, and Millsaps called a timeout before the second and the visitor's winning play.
"Millsaps went up by 11 in the second half, and it was a very similar situation to the first time we played them," said Berry Interim Head Coach Derek Taylor. "Our guys just weren't going to let it happen tonight. They didn't roll over and continued to fight and continued to believe. We were able to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game, and that's all you can ask for.
"We got a little excited after Jon hit the free throw and forgot what our assignments were. Give credit to their coach: He had a play drawn up--to get it out and in quickly--advance the ball up the floor and get a quick shot. They executed it well, and we were just late responding."
Berry will close out both its regular season and home schedule on Sunday against Birmingham-Southern. Tipoff will be at 3 p.m.
