JACKSON,MS- The Millsaps Majors honored three basketball seniors and dished out 21 assists in a 84-70 win over the Berry Vikings on Friday night.
Seniors Ryan Berger, Tully Gilligan and Murray Kastner were honored before the game and each shined on their senior night. All three knocked on the door of a double-double with Berger scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds, Gilligan scoring nine with nine assists and Kastner scoring 13 with eight assists.
The high-scoring affair got off to a slow start as the teams went back-and-forth in the first ten minutes on Friday. Berry and Millsaps each traded highlight reel plays in the opening minutes as Gilligan answered a Berry dunk in traffic with one of his own on a fast break. A Mac McElveen jumper midway through the half put the Majors up four at 12-8 and got the offense kick started.
Millsaps would go on an 8-3 run, fueled by the three seniors who each had a bucket in the spurt as Millsaps opened a 20-11 lead. Berry answered with a run of their own, a 12-2 rush to climb to back with in one. The back-and-forth continued to close the half as it was the Majors turn to go on a scoring spree. Threes by Marc Robertson and Kastner would send the Majors into the half up eight at 32-24.
Millsaps caught fire in the second half, shooting a sizzling 74 percent (20-27) and scoring 52 points. The Majors got going early, ripping off a 12-3 run to open a 17-point lead. Millsaps did most of the damage down low, cashing in four layups during the run. The Majors' offense was running on all cylinders in the second, answering Berry time and time again. The Vikings closed to within 10 only to see Millsaps respond with a 9-2 run to end the threat. Another Robertson three and buckets by Ronnie Frebis paced the run.
Millsaps put an exclamation point on the win with an 8-0 run minutes later to build the lead to as many as 19 in the second half. Again, it was the three seniors who stole the show, attacking the basket and the Vikings' defense. The Majors would have 44 points in the paint on Friday. Late threes by the Vikings closed the gap as Millsaps improved to 7-15 on the season and 4-9 in conference.
The Majors will close out the regular season on Sunday when the Petrels of Oglethorpe come into town for a 3pm tip.
A few notes from the game:
Marc Robertson led all scorers with 20 on 8-11 shooting...Connor Webber and Brandon Park each had 11 to lead Berry...The Majors out rebounded Berry 36-29, but Owen Jacobs of Berry led all players with 11 boards...Both teams took care of the ball with just 14 total turnovers, eight by Berry...The Majors turned the eight miscues into 12 points.
