By MacKenzie Tuttle for Berryvikings.com 

ROME, Ga. -- Making five of their six free throws in the last twenty-two seconds of the game, the Berry College men's basketball team held off Oglethorpe University, 72-68, on Friday night. 

Berry improved to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the SAA. Oglethorpe fell to 1-5, 0-1. 

The BC victory snapped an eight-game losing streak to OU. The last Viking win against the Petrels was in December of 2010.

Caleb Johnson led the BC offense with 21 points. Johnson was 7-of-18 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line. He also grabbed five rebounds and had one steal. 

Owen Jacobs also posted his third double-double of the year, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds for the Vikings. He was 5-for-11 from the field as well as 2-for-6 from the free throw line. 

Collecting nine points on the night, Nick Marder shot 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the win. He also had five rebounds, passed three assists and recorded two steals for the Vikings. 

Blake Scherrman and Tanner Spalding rounded out the Berry scoring leaders, posting eight points apiece. 

The Vikings trailed for most of the first half and trailed 39-38 going to halftime. 

A layup from Johnson put the Vikings ahead, 40-39, to open up the second half.

The lead then changed six times before a Johnson free throw gave BC a 56-55 lead with 7:54 left in the game. Four consecutive lay-ups from Jacobs then ensured the Vikings' victory. 

George Andino's 16 points led the Stormy Petrel's offense. Andino was 6-of-10 from the field and sunk four three-pointers in the loss. 

Oglethorpe shot 40.7-percent (24-of-49) to Berry's 35.4-percent (23-of-65), but BC led the game in rebounds (52-35) and steals (13-11). The Vikings had 18 turnovers to the Stormy Petrel's 21. 

Berry made 24-of-35 free throws to OU's 6-for-9 from the charity stripe. The Petrels made 14 three-pointers to Berry's two.

"I'm really proud of our guys and I think our previous experience in close games really helped us down the stretch," said BC Head Coach Jeff Rogers. "It's great for us because it's the first time we've been in first place in our conference and we get to stay there for another month."

Berry will travel to Demorest, Georgia, to take on Piedmont College in their next game on Monday, Dec. 14. Game time is set for 4 p.m. SAA play returns on Jan. 8 when Berry hosts Birmingham-Southern.