LaGRANGE, Ga. – Berry College's furious rally came up short at LaGrange College, 61-58, on Saturday night. Mac Whalen led the Vikings with 17 points.
Berry is now 1-1. The game was the season-opener for La Grange (1-0).
In the second half, LaGrange reeled off 11 straight points and Berry trailed 49-32—its largest deficit--with 9:24 remaining in the contest. The Vikings, however, then put on a furious rally in the last few minutes. Back- to-back threes by freshman Walker Tuten and Whalen made the score 57-55 with 1:06 left.
Jonathan Abrams cut the margin to 59-58 on layup with 14 seconds remaining. Ira Smith converted two free throws to put the home team ahead 61-58. A Tuten three-point attempt was off the mark with two seconds left and the Panthers escaped with the win.
After a low scoring first half, LaGrange held a 23-21 lead at the break. Devan Bruce's jump shot with 3:51 left in the half gave the Vikings its lone lead of the game at 21-20. Yet defense prevailed as both clubs shot 28-percent from the field in the first 20 minutes.
Abrams added 10 points for Berry and Lake Graham collected 10 rebounds for the Vikes.
Panther Center Patrick Dugger had a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 boards. LaGrange led in rebounds, 45-36.
The Vikings play at Emory University on Tuesday night.