Box Score Maryville College saw four Scots finish in double figures on Saturday afternoon, as MC clinched the USA South West Division Tournament No. 1 seed with an 88-81 victory over LaGrange College.
Saturday's game – a winner-take-all for the top spot in the divisional tournament – was a back-and-forth battle, as the Scots shot 54.7 percent from the floor to secure the victory.
"We didn't practice Friday," Head Coach Raul Placeres said, after the Scots lost to the Panthers at home on Thursday. "All we did was watch film. There were some great teaching moments in film that helped us today. I shared with them one of my favorite quotes – 'Those things that hurt, instruct.' Our staff wanted our toughness to travel on the road, and it did. When this team shares the ball, rebounds the ball like we did today and brings it defensively, we like our chances."
MC boasted 19 assists on Saturday, as the Scots shot 35-of-64 from the field. Maryville pulled outrebounded the Panthers, 42-30, as 13 offensive rebounds culminated in 13 second-chance points.
Myles Rasnick led the way with 19 points, while Felix Uadiale, JR Sanders and Kevin Chong scored double figures in the victory.
The two squads were even through the first 10 minutes, as a Kyle Brown lay-in with 9:50 left tied the game at 16-all. Jekobe Coleman's 3-pointer off a Nicholas Clifton assist at 9:13 ignited the Scots for a rally before the half.
LaGrange pulled to within one, as Uadiale's jam from Coleman gave the Scots a 23-20 advantage at the 6:54 mark.
Maryville went on a 9-0 run that saw a Chong trey, another Uadiale dunk and scores by Rasnick and Clifton. That rally gave the Scots a 36-26 lead with 3:09 remaining. MC extended that lead to as many as 11 on a Clifton trey, before taking a 43-33 lead to the locker room.
Rasnick had 10 first-half points for the Scots, as MC shot 17-of-30 (56.7 percent). Clifton led the bards with five, while Rasnick, Sanders and Clifton had two assists each.
In the second half, Maryville extended its lead to as many as 19. However, LaGrange had one last rally, as the Panthers went 15-of-20 from the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes.
LaGrange's Julian Cameron tallied 18 second-half points, while Ronald Youngblood added 16 in the final stanza to make the game close down the stretch.
The Scots' Sanders boasted 13 points and five assists in the second half, however, to lift the Scots past LaGrange, 88-81.
"We are excited to host and to be the overall No. 1 seed," Placeres said. "We also know we have a very good team coming in here Wednesday. We respect them. We look forward to the competition. We just want to take a moment to thank all the fans, alums and loved ones who have reached out and followed this team in the regular season. Without any fans in the stands, this team really appreciates it."
Maryville will host Covenant College on Wednesday, March 3, for the opening round of the tournament. The USA South West Division Final will be Saturday, March 6 at the highest remaining seed. Times for those games are yet to be determined.
On Saturday, Rasnick led the way for Maryville (8-2, 8-2 USA South), as he had 19 point, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Uadiale added 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting with seven rebounds, while Sanders added 15 points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals for a complete game.
Chong had a dozen points with a pair of treys and seven rebounds, while Clifton neared a double-double with nine points and eight boards. He also had a trio of blocks for the Scots.
Coleman added eight points, while both Daryl Rice and Kordell Kah had four points.
LaGrange (7-3, 7-3) saw Cameron and Brown lead the way. Cameron had a game-high 23 points, going 10-of-11 at the charity stripe and 5-of-19 from the field. Brown had 20 points, as Youngblood added 16. Lincoln Anderson scored 14, as the remainder of the Panthers added eight points.
