Photo by Matt Hembree
By Harry Davis
Staff Writer
On Friday, February 3, the Sewanee Men’s Basketball team took on the Berry Vikings at home and were defeated 69-66.
The Sewanee Tigers, having dropped three of their last four, looked for a victory over the Berry Vikings, who came into the contest having dropped three of their last five. The Tigers’ losing streak has been characterized by a number of poor starts. In the first 10 minutes of the past four games, the Tigers have been outscored 72-49.
Berry came to Sewanee with a seven and thirteen record, showing remarkable improvement from the last time Sewanee played them, when Berry was in the midst of a nine-game losing streak. Since the end of this streak the Vikings have gone three and three.
Early in the game, Sewanee and Berry swapped leads with the score at 13-11 with just under 13 minutes left to play in the half. Berry then began to pull away as the lead expanded to 11 points in the half before Brody Stone (C’17) hit a three with a minute left to play, cutting the lead to eight. Berry ended the half by leading 38-30, propelled by phenomenal shooting, with a 66.7 percent field goal percentage and 80.0 percent three-point field goal percentage as compared to Sewanee’s 45.5 percent and 42.9 percent respectively.
Berry entered the half strong, leading by as much as 13 points as the Tigers struggled to slow the Vikings early on. Sewanee began to impose its will upon Berry, going on a 22 to five run to make the score 59-55 with just more than six minutes left in the game. Berry bounced back, making four out of five baskets, including free throws, to create a lead of 67-63. Sewanee, down but not out, got the ball back with Jorden Williams (C’17) hitting a clutch three to pull back within one. After a quick steal by Stone, Coach Pierson took a timeout with 38 seconds left. Sewanee then missed a three, allowing Berry to get the ball back and having to foul to save clock. Berry proceeded to hit both free throws hanging to win.
Although a tough loss, Sewanee demonstrated the never-give-up attitude that a team needs to win. Hampered by another slow start, Sewanee must fight this trend to become the best team that they can become.
Sewanee will continue their play at home against Oglethorpe on Sunday, February 5 before going on the road to play Hendrix on Friday, February 10 and Rhodes on Sunday, February 12.