Box Score The Maryville College men's basketball team dropped their second consecutive USA South challenge of the weekend with a 68-66 loss to North Carolina Wesleyan College on Saturday evening in MC's Boydson Baird Gymnasium.
In the first five minutes the Battling Bishops jumped out to an eight point advantage, but a series of stops followed by a Tyler Spicer three-pointer and a Jaumonee Byrd free throw evened the score with nine minutes remaining before the half. Another Spicer trey gave MC a quick 30-29 advantage with 3:43 before the intermission, but the Bishops went on a 10-2 run to close out the half. The Scots trailed at the break 39-32.
Despite shooting only 37% from the floor, Maryville was in striking distance as they began the second half. A Jaumonee Byrd layup at the 12 minute mark pulled the Scots to within a basket, but once again the Bishops pulled away to a 10-point lead only five minutes later. Trailing by 13 with 4:34 left, MC's Calvin Songster deposited a layup, a three-pointer, and a jump shot in consecutive possessions to pull MC to within six at 66-60 with 1:47 remaining. A Spencer Shoffner three-pointer with nine seconds left pulled MC to within a basket. A missed free throw gave the Scots one final attempt, but the attempt just rimmed out giving the Bishops a 68-66 victory.
The Bishops finished with 42 of their 68 points in the paint while hitting only 16% from beyond the arc.
North Carolina Wesleyan (8-6, 2-1 USA South) was paced by Adrian Moore. The guard finished with a game-high 16 points on 8-of-16 shooting while dishing out six assists and hauling down nine rebounds. Jalen Cannady added 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Shannon pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while D.J. Weaver and Issac Brown each posted 10 points.
Maryville (7-8, 2-2 USA South) was led by Jaumonee Byrd and Oscar Butler. This duo both eclipsed the 900-point plateau for their career after Butler deposited 16 points and Byrd sank 15. Byrd also paced the Scots on the boards with nine rebounds. Freshman Calvin Songster added eight points and five assists while Spencer Shoffner finished with nine points.
The Scots will now prepare to host Covenant College in a key USA South divisional battle next Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 on January 24th in the Buydson Biard Gymnasium.
