Five players scored in double figures to power the Denison men's basketball team past Berry College, 91-82, on Monday afternoon at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky.

Down five early in the first period, the Big Red took its first 10-point lead of the ball game at 7:12 thanks to a 19-4 run that turned a 13-8 deficit into a 27-17 advantage. Junior Bret Woolard led the offensive charge with six points, while senior Briggs King provided four tallies. Robby Weingart added a triple, while John Cheng, Patrick Keller and Max Siwik all chipped in a pair. The Vikings closed the gap to four with 2:05 before Denison took a 39-33 lead into the intermission. DU scored 24 of their 39 first-half points in the paint, while 15 of Berry's 33 tallies came off turnovers.

The Vikings stayed within striking distance for the first 12 and a half minutes of the second half. Clinging to a 60-54 lead, the Big Red opened up a game-high 16-point lead with a 17-7 run that spanned four minutes and 25 seconds. Berry answered with an 8-2 burst in less than two minutes to cut the deficit to 10 with just under three minutes to play. After Denison rebuilt an 87-72 lead with 78 seconds to play, the Vikings scored eight of the next 10 points close the gap to nine with 33 seconds on the clock. Berry got within eight, but a late free throw by King secured DU's nine-point win.

King paced Denison with 23 points on 10-of-12 from the field and 3-of-7 from the charity stripe and a game-high 13 rebounds. The senior also recorded four assists and four steals in 27 minutes. Woolard and Cheng combined for 34 of the team's 48 bench points. The duo also combined for 11 rebounds and five assists. Sophomore point guard David Meurer chipped in 11 points, three assists and two steals, while Weingart finished with 10 points after going 4-for-5 from the field, including a 2-for-3 performance from three-point range. Darius White registered a game-high nine assists, while Keller finished with three blocks.

As a team, the Big Red converted 59.6 percent (34-for-57) from the field, highlighted by a 16-for-26 (61.5 percent) performance in the first half. Denison also went 10-for-20 (50 percent) from beyond the arc and 13-for-20 (65 percent) at the foul line. DU held advantages in rebounds (39-23), points in the paint (44-22), fast break scoring (10-2) and bench points (48-17).

Zack Chaykowsky led all scorers with 32 points after connecting on 11-of-22 from the field, including 7-of-14 from beyond the arc. Owen Jacobs scored 16 points off the bench for the Vikings, while starters Nick Marder and Lee McCloud added 14 and 10 tallies, respectively. Jacobs also led Berry with seven rebounds. Berry shot 47 percent (27-for-57) from the field, 50 percent (11-for-22) from three and 65 percent (17-for-26) at the stripe.

Denison improved to 7-3, while the Vikings fall to 4-7. The Big Red returns to action on Tuesday when they travel Richmond, Ind. for a 7 p.m. contest with the Earlham Quakers.