Box Score The Maryville College men's basketball team maintained their slim lead in the USA South standings with a thrilling 83-76 victory against Covenant College on Wednesday evening in MC's Boydson Baird Gymnasium.
The Scots used a variety of scoring depth in the first half with ten players contributing to their 42-41 lead at the intermission. Covenant kept the game in reach with a 53% shooting effort paced by Z. Arima's 17 half-time points behind 6-of-8 shooting which include a trio of treys.
Maryville pulled away in the second half when Covenant, while hitting only 38% from the floor, could not find their perimeter attack hitting only 3-of-12 from beyond the arc to close the game. The host Scots created a cushion with a 46% effort from the floor that included a strong attack from long distance (7-for-14).
Covenant (13-11, 6-7 USA South) finished with a team shooting effort of 46% from the floor. The Scots were paced by Z. Arima's game-high 24 points. He finished with a complete line score shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range. He was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line while pulling down six rebounds and creating five steals. Will Portlock added 18 points to the visitor's offense while Caleb Hayes paced Covenant on the boards with eight.
Maryville (19-5, 9-4 USA South) had eleven players score. They were led by Emanuelle Garcia's 23 points. Garcia hit 7-of-10 from the floor including a 4-for-7 effort from downtown. He also went a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Calvin Songster deposited three treys finishing with 15 points. Colt Nokes tossed in 11 points while in the paint while grabbing five key rebounds. Emier Bowman grabbed a team-high eight rebounds while recording a team-high four steals.
Maryville finished their regular season home schedule with a perfect 11-0 record. They will travel to Danville, Virginia on Saturday for the conclusion of the league regular season schedule. Tip-off against the Cougars is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
