JACKSON, Miss. - The Vikings took on the Millsaps Majors in a hard-fought matchup on Thursday night, with the Vikings taking a tough defeat by a final score of 78-64.
Three Vikings clipped double figures, as Cam Pope (13 pts), Isaac Martin (12 pts), and Nile King (10 pts), all chipped in to pace the Viking offense.
Junior sharpshooter Drew Winegarden made history tonight, knocking in his 153rd three-pointer to break the school record for three-pointers made in a career.
The game got going with Drew Winegarden popping into the middle of the Millsaps zone for an easy 15-foot jumper that tied the game at two. Another shot from the same spot from Ryan Luttrell put the Vikings up 6-2 with 17 minutes to play in the first half. Cameron Pope then weaved his way to the basket to make it a six-point Berry advantage early on. Millsaps responded, though, leaving the Vikings up just one at the nine-minute mark. This was when Drew Winegarden took things into his own hands, drilling a trey ball to break the Berry College school record for made three-pointers (153), while giving the Vikings a 21-17 advantage. Cam Pope compounded things with another floater to push the lead to six.
With Millsaps within three once again, the Vikings continued to puncture the Millsaps zone, as Will Smith dished to Isaac Martin for a pure wing three. Martin was not done, as he lined up another three, this time from the corner, that scorched the net to give the Vikings a 29-20 advantage. With the lead back down to 3, Bennett Frazer found some loose change and turned it into dollars under the basket, as he shrugged off contact for an and-one that gave Berry back a five-point lead.
The two teams continued to alternate blows, leaving Berry to nurse a one-point advantage at the halftime break.
Mason Lawrence got the second half started with a strong basket out of the post to give Berry a 3-point advantage. After Millsaps raced out to a 7-point advantage, Canon Armstead drilled a huge three to cut their lead back to 4.
Nile King got going in the middle of the Millsaps zone with two jump hooks that kept the Millsaps defense honest, before he dished to a moon cutting Mason Lawrence who jammed home a dunk to cut the Millsaps lead to 5, 49-44 with 12 minutes to play.
The Vikings continued to battle as Isaac Plavich drilled back-to-back threes to make it just a three-point game, 53-50, with 10 minutes to play.
A 12-4 run from the Majors put the Vikings down by double digits inside 5 minutes to play. A Nile King dunk off a beautiful pass from Martin brought the Vikings back within nine points, 65-56, with 4 and a half minutes to play. A few plays later, Nile King finished a spinning floater to cut the lead to 7. Down the stretch, the Vikings were not able to close the gap, falling to the Majors by a final score of 78-64.
Millsaps closes out the regular season on the road on Saturday against Rhodes. Tip-off is set for 3 PM EST/ 2 PM CST.
