Box Score Maryville College followed yesterday's defensive battle with an offensive eruption on Saturday afternoon, as MC drained 13 treys en route to an 84-66 victory over Huntingdon College.
Today's win marks the Scots' fourth straight, as the Orange and Garnet moved to 5-1 on the season.
Maryville saw four Scots post double figures in the scoring column, as both Kevin Chong and JR Sanders bucketed 20 points on a combined eight 3-pointers. Felix Uadiale added a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards, as Myles Rasnick added 16.
"We're actually doing a really good job of being consistent, especially in the five wins," Head Coach Raul Placeres said. "We've had three guys that have been really consistent, and then, today, we had a fourth. That pays dividend as the season goes on, because we're really balanced. We're really happy about Felix today. We're really trying to get him the ball, but opposing teams really try to limit him on the block. Every time he catches it, it's a double team, and they're really trying to force him. That's his first double-double of the season, and he's a double-double machine. He's a really good player. Chong was really consistent this weekend. I think he was 7-of-10 from 3 this weekend, and JR continues to play lights out. Myles. Myles does what Myles does. Just an overall good game."
Maryville jumped out to an early 8-0 lead on a pair of 3-pointers from Kordell Kah and Sanders. Huntingdon would make up ground, however, taking a 13-12 lead on a Willie Taylor trey with 14:36 remaining.
Chong and Sanders rattled off three-straight long balls – two of those going to Chong – to regain a 30-22 advantage at the 5:59 mark. MC extended that lead to as many as 13, 37-24, before settling for a 43-34 halftime score.
Maryville boasted a 53.8-percent effort (14-of-26) in the first half, while the Hawks found their shooting touch with a 13-of-25 (52 percent) mark in the first half.
The second half, however, MC's lockdown defense rattled the Hawks quickly.
"We're really putting a big emphasis on getting stops," Placeres said. "We're trying to get as many three consecutive stops as possible in a game, and we're really honing in on that mentality and that philosophy. How many three stops in a row can we get in a game? The more you can do that, the more success you can have as a team."
After trading buckets to open the first half, Maryville went on a 12-5 scoring rally that saw the Hawks go without a field goal for 7:24 of the ball game.
In that span, Huntingdon went 0-of-4 from the floor, including a trio of missed treys. MC forced five turnovers, as the Hawks settled for a 5-of-8 effort at the charity stripe.
Sanders hit a step-back 3-pointer to give MC a 65-46 lead with 8:14 remaining. Huntingdon's Keondre Davis broke the silence with a trey of his own, before Chong answered just 13 seconds later on a Sanders assist.
MC extended its lead to 21 on three separate occasions before taking the 84-66 victory.
The Scots held Huntingdon to just 30.3 percent (10-of-33) from the floor in the second half, as the Hawks could only manage a 4-of-16 effort from long range. MC boasted 30 points off 21 Huntingdon turnovers.
Maryville (5-1, 5-1 USA South) saw Sanders lead the way with 20 points. The senior's eight assists outpaced the Hawks' entire squad, as he added three steals and three rebounds. Sanders went 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, as Chong added a 4-of-5 mark from long range.
Chong added 20 of his own, boasting 7-of-8 shooting. He added four rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Uadiale added a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Rasnick added 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals for a complete game.
Nicholas Clifton and Jekobe Coleman had five points each, while Kah added four points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.
In all, MC saw 12 players take the floor, eight of those sophomores or younger.
"I think the better we play and the more we play, it's hard," Placeres said. "A lot of these guys are extremely talented, and we only have so many minutes we can give around. Today, Daryl Rice was really good this weekend, but he gets limited action because he's playing behind a guy that is a First Team All-Conference point guard. I thought he had a great weekend, and Jekobe was much better today. Our guys off the bench will continue to get opportunities, and hopefully excel in that. We've got to get our man Nicholas and Kordell going. That's the final piece, because they're both really good. They're doing good things, but that's the final piece for us to take it up to a greater notch."
Huntingdon (1-6, 1-3) was paced by Ceaunte Zachery's 15 points, while Taylor added 14 points. Caleb Toney had 11 points with a team-high six rebounds, while Davis added 10.
Maryville will have a weekend off before returning to action on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 13-14. MC travels to Berea College and will face the Mountaineers beginning at 6:00 p.m. on the 13th.
