SEWANEE, Tenn. - Men's Basketball took on Sewanee on the road in a battle for first place in the SAA, where the Vikings were victorious by a score of 91-80.  

Braxton Benham had yet another historic night, as he is becoming a nationally recognized talent for the Vikings. He lit up the scoreboard with 41 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists.  

Freshman Nile King continued his strong play off the bench with 14 timely points and 7 rebounds. Sophomore Isaac Martin also hit big shots as he poured in 12 points and 2 assists.  

Berry was the beneficiary of a hot start from beyond the arc, as Jacob Morgan and Isaac Martin both connected on long-range shots to give the Vikings an early 6-3 lead. Following a quick 18-5 run from the Tigers, Benham calmly responded for the Vikings when he jab-stepped a defender and drilled a three-pointer to cut the Tiger lead to 7, 21-14 with 11:44 left to play.  

Sewanee was able to utilize a hot streak midway through the first half to give them a 30-17 lead with just over seven minutes to play. The battle-tested Vikings answered quickly though, as a couple of layups from Godwin and Benham brought Berry back within nine points.  

The Vikings really turned it on offensively around the four-minute mark, when Godwin faked a hand-off and drove to the rim where he finished an and-one layup to cut the Sewanee lead to just 7, 37-30. A few possessions later, Benham converted a dazzling double-clutch layup to ignite the comeback and bring Berry within 2 with 3:34 remaining in the half. The two teams continued to go back and forth down the stretch of the first half, leaving the Tigers with a 43-40 advantage at the halftime break.  

The Vikings started the second half red-hot, as Drew Winegarden found himself open beyond the arc and buried a three-pointer that knotted the game up at 43. Moments later, Isaac Martin followed up with a three-pointer off of a Winegarden assist that gave the Vikings their first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 46-43 with 19 minutes left in the second half.  

The Tigers did not waiver after Berry's hot shooting start to the second half. They would battle back to seven unanswered points and take a 56-49 lead with 15:19 remaining. The two teams traded baskets with neither gaining a sizable edge until the midway point of the half when Benham heated up. Braxton rattled off an eye-opening 13 consecutive points, determined to will Berry to victory. He earned the Vikings a 76-72 lead with 3:49 to play.  

A few plays later, freshman Nile King came up big as he drove to the basket and finished a tough floater to push the Berry lead out to 6 with just under three minutes left. The Vikings would play keep-away in the final minutes and hit timely free throws to put the game away.

With the win, the Vikings now own first place in the SAA and control their own destiny as far as a home-court advantage in the conference tournament with just three games left in the regular season. 

Berry will be back on the court on February 9 at Centre College at 3 PM ET.