Box Score Maryville College Men's Basketball won the USA South West Division Tournament on Saturday evening with a decisive 81-54 win over Piedmont College.
The Scots raised the divisional title after completing the regular season as the No. 1 seed, compiling a 10-2 record overall.
"It's a tribute to the kids," Head Coach Raul Placeres said. "They've been very resilient throughout the season, and we talked about it before the game about being grateful for these moments. It's tough to do – especially during these times. It was double tough to do. I'm just super proud.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, MC played a conference-only divisional slate. The Scots finished the regular season with a 9-2 mark, before knocking off Covenant College and Piedmont College in the West Division Tournament.
"We went through two quarantines, practicing with masks, the first two weeks no contact – then we went home for 30 days. It's a lot of obstacles that everybody had to deal with, but I felt like our guys did a little better than most," Placeres said. "I'm just super proud of our guys the way they finished this off – playing Maryville College basketball with scoring in the 80s and not allowing more than 70. It feels great. The future is really bright."
The Scots trailed by eight in the first half, before a huge rally would push MC past the Lions. Trailing 20-12 with 9:51 remaining, MC allowed just seven points over the remainder of the half.
JR Sanders knocked down a pair of back-to-back 3-pointers to start the Scots' rally, as Maryville turned that into a 16-0 run over 6:04.
The Orange and Garnet extended that run to 23-2, before taking a 35-27 lead at the break.
"[Coach Placeres] reminded us of how much we went through during the preseason and the postseason last year," Nicholas Clifton said of the rally. "Last year, we didn't get where we wanted to. He reminded us of all the two-a-day practices, the masks, the COVID tests and everything we've been through. He just reminded us of how hard we worked for it, and we turned it around from there."
Maryville shot 48.1 percent, while going 16-of-19 at the free-throw line in the final 20 minutes to secure the championship.
Sanders had 12 first-half points to lead all scorers with 21 points.
The guard tallied a trio of treys, as he went 8-of-8 at the charity stripe. Sanders added four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
"If awards were given, JR would have been our MVP," Placeres said. "He's been phenomenal for the last 12 games of last year, and he's carried it on to this year. He's really matured, and he's grown as a young man. The beauty of it is that we get another year of him."
Clifton had 20 points for the Scots, addind seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks. Myles Rasnick added 10 points, five steals, foure assists, four rebounds and a block for a complete game.
Felix Uadiale had nine points and 16 of MC's 47 rebounds with a pair of assists, rebounds and blocks. Uadiale recorded nine offensive boards to aid the Scots in outscoring Piedmont, 17-2, in second-chance opportunities.
Jekobe Coleman had eight points off the bench, while Kordell Kah posted five points and six boards. Caden Cupp, Daryl Rice, Jordan Griswould and Kevin Chong scored two points each in the victory.
Maryville tallied 34 points off 24 Lion turnovers, as the Scots outrebounded Piedmont, 47-27.
For Piedmont, it was Jordan Foote and Ryan Jolly with 15 points each. Foote had eight of the Lions' 27 boards, while Justin Quick added 11 points. Orry Clements-Owens had five assists for the Lions.
