Box Score Maryville College followed a 20-point outburst by senior Joshua Brooks and a near double-double by Kordell Kah to secure their first home victory of the 2019-20 season.
The Scots fought off a late rally, taking down Methodist University by a 67-63 final. The win snaps a nine-game home loss streak, while giving Head Coach Raul Placers his first victory inside Boydson Baird Gymnasium.
"It's about time," the coach said. "We've been so close so many times this year at home, but we just hadn't found a way to pull it through. The kids showed a lot of resilience today. A lot of different guys stepped up, and I'm just really proud of our effort."
Brooks – the lone senior on this season's squad – exploded for 20 points, five rebounds, five assists and a block. He shot 7-of-12 from the floor, including his only 3-pointer of the night. Brooks added a five-of-six effort at the free-throw line, as MC went an impressive 14-of-16 from the charity stripe.
Kah notched a career high off the bench, nearing a double-double with 15 points and eight boards. He had a trio of treys, as his 15 points surpasses his previous best of 11 points, which he's scored three times. He added an assist and a pair of blocks to help secure the Scots win.
The duo was crucial in a 16-0 run in the first half.
"For Josh, as a senior, that's what I always knew he could do," Placeres said. "Hopefully, this game gives him more momentum going forward. You know, he's got an expiration date. We've got nine games left, so hopefully, in these nine games, we can make a little bit of a run and get in the conference tournament. For Kordell, he's been a voice all week here at practice. He was very inspiring today, not only with his play, but in the locker room and on the bench with his teammates. He has a really bright future here in our program, so we're just really happy for both of those guys."
After falling behind 13-2 to start the game, Maryville's defense responded. Brooks' knocked down a key 3-pointer – just his third of the season – with 15:28 left in the first half to spark the Scots.
Following the second media timeout, Maryville found a burst. Kevin Chong knocked down a trey with 11:28 showing, sending the Scots on their 16-0 march.
Brooks had seven of those, including an and-one effort. Kah added four, Chong three and Brice Martin two to give the Scots a 23-18 advantage. Maryville held the Monarchs scoreless for 8:02 in that burst.
That run allowed the Scots to take a slim 30-29 lead to the locker room at the break. Brooks had 12 of his game-high 20 points in the first half, while the Orange and Garnet outrebounded Methodist, 27-11.
Methodist regained the lead to start off the second half, as treys by Kah tied things at 45-all with 9:21 left and again at 52-52 with 5:08 showing.
A Felix Uadiale jumper at 4:17 gave MC's its first lead since the half, as the Scots extended that lead to as many as four.
Methodist cut the lead to one, 64-63, with 30 second left, as a Chong free throw extended it to a 65-63 MC advantage. The Monarchs had three different looks within the final 30 second to tie or take the lead, before Brandon Green's rebound secured the victory. Chong added a pair of free throws for the final, 67-63.
"In eight of our 12 losses this year, we've either been up, tied or down two possessions or less at the last media timeout," Placeres said. "This year could have been totally different at this point if a shot had fallen in, or a shot hadn't fallen in for another team. It's one of those things when that shot went off, I was like, 'Please, not again,' from that left corner. We found a way to win. We knocked down free throws, which we didn't do in the early part of the year. I'm just really proud of how we persevered."
Maryville College (4-12, 3-6 USA South) was paced by Brooks and Kah. Chong added 12 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a block, while Uadiale totaled 10 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and an assist. In all, MC had seven blocks, while outrebounding their USA South foes, 49-25.
Donovan Jackson had six points and three assists, while Martin and Chandler Taylor had two points apiece. Martin and Green tallied five rebounds each.
MC shot 24-of-58 (41.4 percent) from the floor, while notching five 3-pointers at a 27.8-percent clip.
Methodist University (10-7, 6-3) was held to a 38.3-percent effort (23-of-60), while posting six treys. They went 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from the free-throw line.
Garren Dearman had 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while Kaymon Mitchell had 14 points. Sam Mingledoff had 13 points, while Calvin Manley added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Scots will have a couple days off before traveling to Brevard College on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
