Berry marching on in SAA tournament

Chalk up another historic upset to the Berry College men’s team.

After defeating topseeded Centre on its home court Friday in the Southern Athletic Association tournament quarterfinals, Berry topped No. 5 seed BirminghamSouthern 95-76 in Saturday’s semifinals.

The Vikings jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, leading 42-35 at halftime.

With the win, the Vikings improve to 10- 17 overall on the year, advancing to the Southern Athletic Association tournament championship game for the first time ever after coming in as the No. 8 underdog.

Six Vikings scored double- digit points to lead Berry over the Panthers on Saturday.

Elijah Hirsh led Berry, finishing with 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Caleb Johnson led all scorers with 20 points on the afternoon, contributing to the Vikings’ 45.2- percent field goal shooting.

Berry will play No. 7 seed Hendrix for the SAA championship today at 3 p.m. at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.

The Vikings came up short twice to the Warriors this season, losing 94-91 in Conway, Arkansas, and 83-82 at Berry.

In other action:

East Georgia State men 86, GHC 83

A 29-game conference home winning streak came to a heartbreaking end Saturday for the Georgia Highlands College men’s basketball team as East Georgia State overcame a 16-point halftime deficit and defeated the Chargers 86-83 in overtime.

Both GCAA teams traded baskets in overtime with Georgia Highlands taking an 81-79 lead with 1:05 remaining, but the visiting Bobcats answered with a 3-pointer to go up 82-81.

Charger DeMarcus Addie’s floater in the lane tied the game at 83, but East Georgia State’s Tariq Jenkins hit a 3 as the buzzer sounded to take the win.

Addie paced the Chargers with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Khalyl Watters had 16 points, TaJuan Johnson added 15 points, and Jermiah Buford had 12.

The Chargers (18-8, 12-2 GCAA) travel to Central Georgia Tech today.

GHC women 54, East Georgia State 31

The Georgia Highlands’ women’s basketball team closed out the regular season with a 54-31 home win over the Lady Bobcats of East Georgia State on Saturday.

Up 27-15 at the half, the Lady Chargers survived a rough third period to turn up the defensive pressure in the fourth period and hold East Georgia to only four points in the final quarter of the GCAA contest.

Georgia Highlands was led by Ozahria Fisher’s 12 points, six assists and five steals, while Anna Stewart had 10 points, and Briana Davis added nine.