Season Ends in 65-62 Setback
MARYVILLE – The end of the road for No. 22 Maryville was another example of the fight the Scots showed all season.
LaGrange prevailed 65-62 in the USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinal inside Boydson Baird Gymnasium on Tuesday night. The Panthers move on to face Averett, who is the No. 1 seed in the East Division. Maryville ends the season 20-4 overall with a 10-2 conference mark.
It marks the first 20-win season for the Scots since the 2018-19 campaign.
The first half was not friendly to Maryville when it came to 3-pointers. The Scots missed all nine attempts from behind the arch. Their 12.5-percent performance from deep in the full 40 minutes was the worst all season, with the two made 3-pointers coming as second-worst.
Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said the offense was not clicking for the Scots early on.
"Our offense wasn't there today from deep," Placeres said. "We had a lot of open looks and touches inside to finish and it just didn't happen. Winning is not fair or loyal sometimes. We have had a fantastic year. If this is one of the failures in life for our young men, it is not that big of a deal. They will learn from it."
The Scots fell behind by as many as 16 points in the second half of the tournament game. With the postseason contest looking like it could turn into a blowout, Maryville worked to gain momentum back.
The game started to turn more in favor of the home squad with 10:38 left in regulation. A layup from Myles Rasnick kicked off a 14-0 run by the Scots that cut the lead to one point. A dunk by Felix Uadiale during the run got the crowd inside the Cooper Athletic Center on their feet and back into the game.
Three minutes of action later, Rasnick tied the game with a layup forcing a timeout by LaGrange. Two free throws gave the visitors another advantage, but Rasnick came up clutch again with a layup that tied the game 62-62 with 1:43 left in the matchup.
Maryville simply ran out of time to finish the comeback. The Panthers made a layup and a free throw in the final moments of the game to earn the 65-62 win.
"I was proud of our effort to get back into the game," said Placeres. "We could have folded but we didn't. We just never got over the hump. Even after we tied it we didn't have the opportunities we needed."
Numbers Behind the Game
Rasnick led all scorers with 21 points. Uadiale was next for the Scots with 17 points and a team-leading 11 rebounds. It was the eighth double-double for the junior forward this season.
Coach Placeres dealt with a shorthanded squad in the game with starter Chase Ridenour and key reserve Kordell Kah both unable to suit up for the contest.
"Being down Chase and Kordell hurt us," said the coach. "We rely on our depth so some guys had to play more minutes tonight. Myles and Felix have not played 37 and 38 minutes per game for us all year, but they had to tonight."
While the Maryville offense struggled, the LaGrange offense proved yet again to be a nuisance to MC. The Panthers shot 49-percent from the field, which is second-best among all Scot opponents this year. The number one performance also belongs to LaGrange.
Other numbers down the stat sheet were similar for both teams. The Panthers only outrebounded Maryville by two, while the Scots had one more assist than LaGrange. Each bench contributed eight points.
"This game will fuel us moving forward," said Placeres. "I'm excited for next season and the guys who are coming back and the young guns who are coming in. The expectation is to continue to be able to cut nets down and get back to the NCAA tournament."
Maryville begins play in the Collegiate Conference of the South next season in the new league's inaugural campaign.
