Box Score BEREA, Ky. – The Berea College men's basketball team came down to the wire against Franklin College, as the Grizzlies last-second shot to send the contest to overtime was off as the Mountaineers came away with a 60-58 season-opening win.
The Mountaineers had three players in double figures as senior
Isaac Caudill led the contest in scoring with 18 points. Sophomore
Jarel Montgomery and sophomore
Trey Minter chipped in 15 and 12 points, respectively. Caudill and Minter also showed their muscles on the backboard with seven rebounds apiece.
Though the Mountaineers didn't shoot well from beyond the arc, five-for-21 overall, they shot well from the charity stripe converting nine of their 12 opportunities. Berea jumped out to an 8-3 lead as Caudill opened the season with a three-pointer to get his team out in front. After a Grizzlies three, sophomore
Marquis Mackey drove to the paint for an and-one finish to get the ball rolling. Berea used this momentum to gain a nine-point advantage with 8:34 left in the half.
Over the next four minutes, Franklin trimmed the lead 19-18 with a 10-2 run and eventually took the lead 21-19 with 3:34 left in the first. However, Berea ended the half by taking a double-digit lead with a 12-0 run. Montgomery sparked the run with a jumper in the paint and back-to-back shots from beyond the arc by freshman
Andrew Jones and Minter pushed the Mountaineers out in front.
The Mountaineers finished the first half shooting efficiently from the field, converting 38 percent of their shots. Defensively Berea was an issue, forcing 11 first-half turnovers and seven steals.
Just as quickly as the Mountaineers built a double-digit lead the exit the first half, they saw the advantage get trimmed in half as fast as the Grizzlies trimmed the deficit to five around three and a half minutes into the second half. Franklin knocked down two three-pointers to open the half and finished with an and-one bucket to trail 35-30 with 17:32 remaining.
Over the next nine minutes, each side continued to trade baskets as Berea held their lead to at least five points before a midrange jumper from Mackey and Minter connecting a pass to Jones for a fastbreak layup pushed Berea's lead 45-35 with 8:48 left on the clock. The Mountaineers soon went cold from the field, missing their next four shots as Franklin pulled to within four points before the Mountaineers called a timeout with 6:55 remaining.
Out of the time out, the Mountaineers began to warm up as Montgomery scored four consecutive points to give his team a cushion. The Mountaineers once again pushed the lead to double digits when freshman
Bryce Riley notched an open-court steal and finished the fastbreak layup as Berea led 51-41 with under four and a half minutes left. Franklin responded with consecutive buckets to trim the lead in half with 3:48 on the clock.
Berea was once again able to build a double-digit lead let, but the Grizzlies continued to fight as they cut into the deficit as they trailed by just two points in the final possession of the contest. After knocking down a three-pointer to pull to within a single possession, Franklin forced a Mountaineer turnover with six seconds remaining to get a chance to either go into overtime or for the win. The Grizzlies chose to drive to the paint, but the layup was off. Franklin's Nathaniel Hoffman had a chance to send the game to overtime with the offensive putback, but his attempt was offline as well as Berea came away with a 60-58 thriller victory to open their season.
The Berea College men's basketball team returns to action on Thursday as they travel to face Centre College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Danville, Ky.
