Box Score The Maryville College men's basketball team went into their first USA South Conference Tournament with hopes of an upset of No.2 seeded Ferrum College on Thursday evening. Coach Lambert's young squad gave the Panthers a challenge and it took a Brian Clarke last second jumper to lift Ferrum past the Scots 73-71 in the first round of the league tournament in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Maryville out shot the Panthers 41% to 37% in the first half. Ferrum capitalized on a 12-for-13 (92%) effort at the free throw line while MC never saw the charity stripe. Ferrum secured a 38-35 lead at the intermission.
Maryville took the lead early in the second half, but the Panthers kept the game close throughout. With five minutes remaining, the game was tied 65-65. A Joey Bodewig three point play gave the Scots a 68-65 lead but three free throws by Ferrum tied the game once again at the 2:43 mark. A Christian Ford jumper and Craig Raye free throw gave MC the lead with 1:03 on the clock. Ferrum's Jamal Pullen deposited his 14th and 15th free throw of the game to tie the game at 71 with 21 seconds remaining. Clarke's jumper was good in the final seconds and a Maryville last second attempt failed and allowed Ferrum to advance in the tournament.
Maryville (10-14) was paced by All-USA South performer Christian Ford. The sophomore point guard hit 8-of-15 shots to finish with a team-high 16 points. Wes Lambert concluded his collegiate career with an 11 point effort while Joey Bodewig and Oscar Butler added 10 and nine points respectively.
Ferrum (14-10) was led by Jamal Pullen who was 5-for-9 from the field and 15-of-16 at the free throw line for a game-high 25 points. J.D. Wallace added 13 points for the Panthers who hit 86% (31-of-36) at the free throw line.
Ferrum will advance to challenge the winner of the #6 LaGrange vs. #3 Greensboro first round matchup. Their semi-final game will tip-off at 9:00 p.m. on Friday evening in Fayetteville.
