The Berry College Men's basketball team took on Rhodes College Sunday afternoon. Rhodes got out to an early lead and never surrendered it as they outlasted the Vikings 80-68.
Mason Lawrence got the offense started early for the Vikings, recording six of the first nine points scored for Berry. Lawrence also dished out an assist for a made three from
Drew Winegarden. At the 14
th minute mark in the first half, Berry and Rhodes were tied 11-11. For the next four minutes, the two teams were trading baskets until Rhodes was able to build a ten-point lead with six minutes left in the first half. The lead only grew for Rhodes as they  could not miss from the three-point line, converting 7 of 12 shots down the stretch of the first half. On the other hand, Berry was not able to get much going from beyond the arc as they went 2-11 from three-point range in the first half. Those shooting outcomes left the Lynx ahead 42-25.
Just as the first half started, Lawrence sparked the scoring again with a made layup in an attempt to gain some momentum for the Viking offense. The second half still did not favor the Vikings as the Lynx remained ahead by 15 or more points until the five-minute mark left in the game. Berry was able to outscore the Lynx in the second half thanks to a much-improved shooting effort, as they knocked down 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from beyond the arc. It was still not enough to overcome the first half deficit though, as they fell to 4-3 in the conference and 8-11 overall.
Four Vikings were able to eclipse the double-digit mark in points scored, with Lawrence leading the bunch with 11 points.
Ryan Luttrell, Cam Pope, and
Canon Armstead joined him as the double-figure performers with 10 apiece.
Berry is back in action this Friday at Centre College.
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