Box Score Loss at Covenant Drops MC to 2nd Seed
USA South Release
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Covenant flipped the script on Maryville from the first meeting between these two teams back in January and forged a three-way tie atop the Western Division of the USA South.
All three teams are regular season tri-champions.
Covenant knocked off No. 14 Maryville 73-52 Saturday afternoon and the two Scot squads finished 10-2 in conference. LaGrange won 81-71 at Brevard to make it a three-way tie.
Since all three teams went 1-1 against each other, the tie was broken using records against common nonconference opponents. All three played Birmingham-Southern, Emory and Sewanee, with Covenant going 3-0, Maryville 2-1 and LaGrange 1-2.
That means seeding from the Western Division goes 1-Covenant, 2-Maryville, 3-LaGrange and 4-Brevard. Maryville draws a Tuesday quarterfinal home game against LaGrange, while Covenant hosts Brevard. If Covenant wins that contest, Covenant hosts the weekend semifinals and final.
Both Covenant and Eastern Division winner Averett would have to lose Tuesday for Maryville to have a chance at hosting duties.
"They brought it from the tip today, and we just never really gave them any fight," Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said of Saturday's game. "Sometimes you've got to tip your hat to the opponent, and today they were just better. It looked a lot like the game at our place. They just dominated us from start to finish."
Covenant Pulled Away Early
Maryville won big back in January, a 95-63 triumph that was the team's 11th win in a row. Kordell Kah led the team with a season-high 15 points that day, but he couldn't play Saturday and then starting guard Chase Ridenour went down with an early injury. Ridenour played just four minutes.
Maryville also was playing its fourth game in eight days after having to squeeze in a Covid makeup Thursday at Piedmont.
But Covenant was just too tough on this afternoon. The hometown Scots expanded a 13-11 lead to 29-16 over a six-minute window capped by Will Crumly's layup with 5:04 remaining in the first half. The lead ballooned to as much as 17 before JR Sanders converted a jumper just before the buzzer to make it 39-24 Covenant at intermission.
Two free throws from Sanders with 17:51 remaining pulled Maryville within 41-30, but that's as close as it got. Brady Palmer hit a jumper and Covenant led 55-35 with 12:03 to play. Covenant then maintained a 20-point-plus margin for most of the remaining play.
Crumly led all scorers with 20 points and tied for rebounding honors with 11, joining teammate Chris Barnette who finished with 13 points and 11 boards. Promise Igbanu scored 19 points.
Felix Uadiale paced Maryville with 13 points and eight rebounds.
This was Maryville lowest scoring team point total since the Scots won 52-45 at Covenant back in February 2015.
Back-to-Back Regular Season Titles
Maryville with the loss settles for a shared regular season crown. It's the second regular season title in as many years for the Scots under Placeres, and the third Western Division title for Maryville Athletics this academic season (volleyball, men's soccer).
"Regular season champs," Placeres said. "It's not the way we wanted, but we finished the regular season with the best record in our division. We get to host the quarterfinals, and another season starts Tuesday. I'm pleased with the body of work we have accomplished thus far."
Tuesday's home quarterfinal matchup against LaGrange tips off at 7 p.m.
