Jan. 22, 2008

Check out the NAIA scoreboard | click here
Check out weekly NAIA basketball news | click here

LaGRANGE, Ga. -- Jess Mullens collected his 1,000th career point in the Berry (Ga.) men's basketball team's 79-75 road win over LaGrange (Ga.) on Monday (Jan. 21). The Vikings improve to 13-7 this season, while LaGrange falls to 4-13.

Mullens had 13 points, to finish the night with 1,004 points in his Berry basketball career. The senior from Huntsville, Ala. also pulled down seven rebounds and had three blocks in the milestone game.

Daniel Ferguson led the Berry attack with 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Ferguson was 4-of-5 at the line, as the Berry team went 13-for-16 (81.3%) from the line.

"We got a good win on the road tonight," said Berry coach Jeff Haarlow. "After such an exciting week at home, we had to get re-focused in a hurry and thankfully got a win tonight."

The Vikings had a monumental game on Saturday as the team closed Ford Gym, which had served as the home court for Berry basketball since the 1962-63 season. Hundreds of fans turned out for the final game in Ford and spurred the team on to a big win 96-77 over Reinhardt. The Vikings play the first home game in their new basketball facility, the Steven J. Cage Athletics & Recreation Center, on Jan. 31st.

Mullens and Ferguson were the only two Berry players to reach double-digits, but a balanced offense helped Berry secure the win. Tim Miles and Matt Mixer both came off the bench to score nine points each. The Vikings' bench out-scored the LaGrange reserves 32-19 in the game.

Making 5-of-13 three-point shots in the first half, LaGrange trailed the Vikings just 40-38 at half time. The Panthers got 15 points each from Caleb Smallwood and Demetris Render, while Joe Cromwell tossed in 13 points and eight rebounds.

However, in the second half Berry turned up the defensive pressure and limited LaGrange to just 38.2% shooting for the half. The Vikings held the Panthers to just 40.3% field goals for the game and allowed the hosts to shoot just 2-of-6 from three-point range after the intermission. Conversely, Berry shot 48.4% from the field for the game.

"With this win under our belt we now have to start focusing on the next game," said Haarlow. "We have to get mentally prepared to play a very-tough Shorter team on Thursday."

The Vikings play in the Rotary Classic on Thursday at Shorter's Winthrop-King Center. The Classic begins with the women's game at 6 p.m. and follows with the men's game, which is expected to tip around 8 p.m.

The game against Shorter will have more than just local bragging-rights on the line, as just percentage points separate the two teams in the Southern States Athletic Conference standings. Berry is in fourth place with a 5-3 conference record, while Shorter (12-5, 4-3) is fifth. Both teams are receiving votes in the latest NAIA National Poll.