ATLANTA – Maryville closed out 2023 Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought 79-71 loss to Mary Washinton in the consolation game of the Emory Holiday Classic in Atlanta.
The Scots finished the first half of the 2023-24 season with a record of 8-4, playing 11 of their 12 games on the road, including tournaments in Rochester, N.Y., St. Louis, Mo., and Atlanta, Ga.
Chase Morgan led the Scots in scoring and rebounds, picking up a career-high 22 points to go along with seven rebounds. He is second on the team in scoring this season, averaging 13.4 points while leading in rebounding with 6.1.
"Chase Continues to work and produce as one of the premier post players in the country," head coach
Raul Placeres said. "He is just scratching the surface of his full potential. I love Chase because this really matters to him!"
Following Morgan,
Reed Kemp recorded 17 points in the contest and played strong defense, picking up a block and two steals.
Jackson Garner contributed 13 points of his own while recording five rebounds and a season-high six assists.
Maryville overcame a 36-28 first-half deficit in the contest, sending the game to overtime before shooting just 1-for-8 in the five-minute OT and falling 79-71. The Scots outscored the Eagles 37-29 in the second half.
"Coach McCord and I challenged the guys to give more and be a whole heck of a lot tougher in the second half," Placeres said. "They demonstrated that by erasing an eight-point lead and going up 10 at one point against one of the elite Division III defenses in the country."
In the Second half, Maryville started on a 26-8 run, taking a 54-44 lead with 9:23 remaining in the contest. A pair of free throws from
Logan Patterson capped off the nearly 11-minute surge for the Scots.
The Eagles kicked off a comeback of their own though, outscoring the Scots 17-6 to retake the lead 61-60 with 2:10 remaining. For the remainder of regulation, Maryville and Mary Washinton traded buckets, changing leads four times in the final two minutes before MC split a pair of free throws to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Mary Washington outscored the Scots 14-6 in overtime and improved to 8-5 on the season.
Coach Placeres and his squad look ahead to conference play now, opening CCS competition against Belhaven on Jan. 6 on the road against Belhaven.
"We enter the second season now, conference play," Placeres said. "We plan to get back to work tomorrow and get better in areas that we both did well and did not so well in."
"We're looking forward to CCS play and all of the challenges it will bring."
Tip-off against the Blazers is scheduled for 4 p.m. Central.
