Box Score Maryville College used a second half surge and a season high from Spencer Shoffner to knock off the Vikings of Berry College, 108-91, on Wednesday night.
Shoffner – a senior forward for Maryville College – tallied a 29-point effort to lead Maryville to its third 100-point outing of the 2015-16 season. The Oak Ridge native also neared a double-double behind eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.
Shoffner's effort left him only seven points shy of becoming the 32nd member of the Maryville College 1,000-point club, as he currently sits with 993 career points in his Orange and Garnet career.
Maryville started the contest slow, as Berry jumped to an early 7-2 lead. The Vikings shot 85.7 percent (6-of-7), while holding a 14-12 lead at the first media break.
The Scots' defensive pressure stepped up, however, holding the Vikings to only 7-of-21 for the remainder of the half. Maryville shot 44.1 percent (15-of-34) in the first half, taking a 44-36 lead to the locker room.
The Scots only continued their onslaught, bucketing an 8-0 run to start the second half. That run would turn into a 17-3 surge before the Vikings could find their first field goal of the second half from McCarty Forte at the 16:57 mark.
Free throws, along with offensive surges from Tyler Spicer and Shoffner led the way to the 108-91 victory.
Maryville (7-2) mustered a 51.5 percent effort from the floor, shooting 34-of-66. The Scots tallied 11 treys, as the two teams combined for 57 points at the charity stripe.
The Scots had 24 assists on 34 made baskets for the evening.
"That's phenomenal," Maryville Head Coach Randy Lambert said. "We had three guys over five assists. [Dante] Hoppa, Shoffner and Jay Bowyer – our starting three perimeter players. We had five players in double figures and another with nine. Hoppa had nine rebounds and Logan Brewer had eight. It's always a process. It doesn't matter who you've got."
Spicer tied his career high from earlier this season, posting 21 points to go with six rebounds and three steals. Brewer had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Bowyer had 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Emanuelle Garcia had 10 points behind a 3-of-5 effort from beyond the arc, as Hoppa had nine points and nine rebounds to lead Maryville on the boards. Joshua Brooks had seven points, as Colt Nokes added six. Kaleb Estes added two.
For Berry College (2-5), it was all Blake Scherrman. Sherman had 19 points to lead the Vikings, while shooting 6-of-12 from the floor. Caleb Johnson had 11 points, while Lee McCloud and Owen Jacobs had nine each. Both led Berry College with six rebounds, while Johnson had four of the Vikings 10 assists.
The Scots will travel next to Memphis, Tenn. to face Aurora University in the Rhodes College Tournament. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. eastern, 4 p.m. central time.
