Box Score Covenant College rallied in the second half and Chris Barnette drained a game-winning three-pointer with four seconds remaining in overtime to give the Scots an 83-81 victory over Maryville College in the USA South tournament quarterfinals in Lookout Mountain, Georgia on Tuesday evening.
Maryville dominated the first half with junior guard JR Sanders depositing 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting that included a 3-for-5 effort from long distance. MC claimed the battle of the boards the first half (22-16) with Brice Martin and Felix Uadiale combining for 15. Uadiale brought down 10 on his own before the intermission. Maryville's stingy man-to-man defense held the hist Scots to a 28-percent shooting effort (8-of-28) while MC's efficient offensive attack hit almost 52-percent of their shots. Adding to Sanders' 17-point attack were Joshua Brooks and Brice Martin with six points each.
Maryville spent the first eleven minutes of the second half building a 16-point advantage after JR Sanders took a Felix Uadiale rebound coast-to-coast at the 8:29 mark to make the score 56-40. A trio of Covenant three-point plays stole Maryville's momentum and with four minutes remaining the host Scots cut MC's lead to 62-56. Four free throws and a basket from Will Crumly cut Maryville's lead to 64-62 with 2:39 left. Covenant's James Mitchell deposited a pair of treys within the final two minutes to tie the game at 68-68 forcing overtime.
In overtime, Will Crumly tallied 10 of his 25 total points while Maryville countered with a Brice Martin's nine-point finish. A Joshua Brooks steal and basket with 14-seconds remaining gave Maryville a brief 81-80 lead before Chris Barnette drained a game-winning three-pointer with four seconds remaining to advance Covenant into the USA South semifinals.
Covenant (15-11) was paced by the double-double of Will Crumly. The post player tallied 25 points while bringing down 13 rebounds. James Mitchell posted a dozen points while Daevon Platt added 12 off the bench. Barnette finished with 11 points including his only three-pointer, the game-winner.
Maryville finishes their inaugural season under Head Coach Raul Placeres 9-17. Junior guard JR Sanders finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting that included a trio of treys. Brice Martin battled for 21 points and seven boards while senior Joshua Brooks tallied 14 points in his final collegiate game. Felix Uadiale paced all players on the boards with 16 rebounds.
"I am incredibly proud of our effort in a tough environment," stated Coach Placeres. "We displayed tremendous growth in the new year. We will use this loss as fuel to get bigger, faster, and stronger in the offseason. I love these guys and our future is so bright."
Covenant College advances in the 2020 USA South Athletic Conference tournament. They will take on Methodist University in Danville, Virginia on Friday, February 28th.
