BEREA, Ky. – The Berea College men's basketball team dropped their final home contest of the 2021-22 season as they fell 87-83 to LaGrange on Sunday afternoon.
The Mountaineers drop to 5-15 on the season and 1-8 in USA South Conference play, while the Panthers improve to 13-10 and 8-2 in conference play.
Freshman guard
Trey Minter had another impressive outing as he scored 30 points while knocking down three shots from beyond the arc and five free throws. Freshman guard
Kevion Hudson recorded 18 points and collected four rebounds. Freshman guard
Marquis Mackey (13), junior guard
Isaac Caudill (10), and freshman guard
Jarel Montgomery (10) all chipped in on the scoring efforts.
The first half was highly contested as neither team was able to grab a lead larger than seven points. Berea jumped out to a five-point lead as they converted their first three shots of the contest. Caudill scored the first points of the game on a baseline jump shot, which was followed by a three-pointer by Minter and a layup from Hudson to give the Mountaineers a 7-2 lead a little over a minute into the game.
The Mountaineers maintained their early advantage for most of the first half until a layup by the Panther's Micah Paulk tied the contest 27-27 with 8:13 left in the half. LaGrange took a four-point lead behind a mid-range jump shot by Paulk and a fastbreak dunk off a steal by Cooper Dolhancyk put the Panthers ahead. The Mountaineers regained the lead behind an 18-6 run, but the Panthers managed the damage by scoring the last seven points of the half to go into intermission tied 48-48.
The second half was much like the first as neither squad could maintain a large lead. While the Mountaineers shot efficiently from the field in the second half (13-of-32), LaGrange's offense was aggressive and made the most of their trips to the free-throw line converting 15 of their 18 attempts.
With the game tied 68-68, Mackey gave Berea the lead as he picked the pocket of Camerin Lyons and finished a fastbreak layup. However, LaGrange once again tied the game as they came down on the other end of the court and buried a mid-range jump shot. Each side continued to trade baskets before LaGrange held an 83-77 lead with 14 seconds left in the game.
Hudson brought Berea closer as he knocked down a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining to trail by three. LaGrange's Bershard Edwards was fouled on the ensuing inbound, where he made a trip to the charity stripe and sank both of his attempts to give the Panthers a five-point lead. Hudson stepped up once again as he drained another three-pointer to trim the deficit to two points, but there wasn't enough time remaining on the clock as Berea came up just short falling 87-83 to LaGrange.
The Berea College men's basketball team wraps up their 2021-22 campaign on Tuesday as they travel to face Maryville College. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Maryville, Tenn.
