Berry College used a 14-0 second half run en route to a 71-64 victory over Loyola University New Orleans Saturday afternoon at The Den.

Early in the second half, Loyola gained a 12 point lead as Sean Bennett found Cameron Cates for a lay-in which gave the Wolfpack a 46-34 advantage.

Berry scored nine of the game’s next 11 points to cut Loyola’s margin to five points at 48-43 following a Daniel Ferguson three pointer with just less than 16 minutes left in the game.

Loyola again pushed the lead to double digits as a Corey Gray three ball made it 53-43 Wolfpack with 12:49 left.

From there, Berry used a 14-0 run that burned 3:43 off the clock to give the Vikings their first lead since early in the first stanza. The run started with a Tim Miles three-pointer with 12:41 left. It culminated with a Stephen Hunter fast break basket off a Chris Clark steal that gave Berry a 57-53 lead with just under eight minutes to play.

Loyola cut the Berry advantage to one point at 59-58 after Sean Bennett hit from deep. The Vikings kept the Wolfpack at bay by scoring eight of the next ten points after Will Blackwell found Chris Clark for a lay-up basket- giving Berry their largest lead of the game at 68-60 with just under two and a half minutes to go.

Loyola got as close as four points down the stretch when Sean Bennett nailed another three pointer that made it 68-64 Vikings with 51 seconds left, but Berry converted their free throws in the waning seconds for the 71-64 final score.

In the first half, Loyola got on the scoreboard first as Torry Beaulieu found Ryan Brock for a lay-in one minute into the contest.

Berry gained their only lead of the first half at the 17:38 mark with a pair of free throws by Daniel Ferguson to make the score 4-2.

Over the rest of the period, the Wolfpack slowly pushed the lead higher, eventually making it a double digit advantage with 2:33 left in the half as Torry Beaulieu intercepted a pass from Daniel Ferguson and ran it down the floor for a fast break lay-in and a 36-26 Loyola lead.

Sean Bennett gave the Wolfpack their largest lead of the game as he hit two free throws with 13 seconds left in the first period to make it 42-30. Will Blackwell scored a lay-up at the buzzer for the Vikings and the two teams went to the locker room with the Wolfpack up 42-32.

“We're disappointed that we couldn't put together a complete game. You have to give Berry credit. They did what they had to do late in the contest to get the win. We'll use this to prepare for our GCAC opener Thursday against Dillard. The second season is here and everyone starts with a 0-0 record from this point,” said Loyola head coach Dr. Michael Giorlando.

Sean Bennett led the way with 18 points offensively. Ryan Brock added 17 and Robert Manson picked up a career high with 11 points. Two career highs were tied as Cameron Cates grabbed seven rebounds and Torry Beaulieu assisted on ten Wolfpack baskets. Nick Tuszynski also grabbed seven boards to tie Cates for game-high honors.

The Wolfpack (7-4) hit 56.3% from the field in the first half, but only converted 30.4% in the second. Overall, Loyola shot 45.5% for the game. This was the Wolfpack’s first loss inside The Den this season.

Daniel Ferguson led the way for Berry with 17 points. Will Blackwell added 13 and Chris Clark finished with 11 points. David Holloman grabbed five rebounds for team high honors.

The Vikings (9-5) shot 45.5% in the game, outrebounded the Wolfpack 42-31, including 17 offensive rebounds and outscored Loyola 16-8 on second chance opportunities. Berry outscored Loyola 39-22 in the second half.

The Wolfpack opens conference play this Thursday as Loyola travels across town to face the Dillard Blue Devils. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Dent Hall.

Helpful links:
http://wolfpack.loyno.edu
http://wolfpack.loyno.edu/giving
http://gcaconf.com
http://naia.org
http://loyolamaroon.com
http://blog.nola.com/wolfpack/

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