Berry College’s head men’s basketball coach, Mitch Cole, earned his 100th career victory on Friday night in a 77-70 win over his former team, Birmingham-Southern.

Cole took over as the head men’s basketball coach at BSC in 2006, overseeing the school’s transition from the NAIA to NCAA Division I. His final season at BSC was one of the most successful seasons in BSC men’s basketball history, leading the Panthers to a 23-4 overall record in 2010-11 and winning the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship with a 14-2 conference mark. The Panthers ended the season by winning the NCAA Division III Provisional Tournament Championship in Steubenville, Ohio. Cole earned D3hoops.com South Region Coach of the Year honors at the conclusion of the year.

With the victory against his former post on Friday night, Cole’s Vikings sit at 14-5 overall and 5-3 in league play, stringing together two of the most successful seasons in Berry’s NCAA Division III era. BSC dropped to 5-14 and 1-7 in conference competition. 

Caleb Haynes led the Vikings, scoring 22 points on 11-for-16 shooting. Austin Brooks, Drew Jones and Micah Johnson also scored double-digits. As a team, Berry had its best three-point shooting night of the season, going 7-for-12 from distance for a 58.3% clip. It was the first time Berry shot above 45% from three-point range since Dec. 30. The Vikings also cleaned up their free-throw shooting, connecting on the highest percentage since the end of 2019 as well. 

Berry dominated down low, outscoring the Panthers by 20 points in the paint. Berry currently sits in a three-way tie for second place in the SAA standings. 

https://www.berryvikings.com/sports/mbkb/2019-20/releases/20200125cqugcb