LaGRANGE, Ga. – A clinical second-half performance lifted the Maryville Scots past LaGrange 99-84 Saturday afternoon in Collegiate Conference of the South play.
Unlike Friday night's fast start at Huntingdon, the Scots saved their best for last against the host Panthers. Maryville outscored LaGrange 56-38 in the second half, with
Chase Morgan tallying 25 of his career-high 31 points.
Morgan added 10 boards to record his second collegiate double-double. The sophomore forward finished the game 11-of-16 from the floor and 9-of-11 from the line, adding three assists against just one turnover.
"No. 13 (Morgan) is a fantastic player and I'm glad he's on our side," Scots head coach
Raul Placeres said. "The message before the game was don't become complacent, stay the course, work for each other and be a team.
"We showed a lot of grit, a lot of toughness and a lot of togetherness on this trip, and I hope we continue to evolve in that direction."
Series Craziness Continues
Placeres improved to 5-0 against the Panthers in Mariotti Gym, continuing a quirky trend of the road team now having won 10 in a row in this series. The Scots overall improved to 47-14 against LaGrange since the 1989 season.
Maryville went 3-0 for the week and 2-0 on this big southern road trip to pull into a first-place tie in the CCS at 3-1. MC is joined at the top by Belhaven, which won 72-71 Saturday at Piedmont; and by Berea, which matched Maryville in going 2-0 at LaGrange and Huntingdon.
LaGrange had a hot-shooting first half and led 46-43 at intermission. The largest Panther lead of the opening 20 minutes was 13-6, which they matched early in the second half at 56-49 on a 3-point basket by Brodie Scott with 16:08 remaining.
That's when Morgan turned on the jets, fueling a 10-0 Maryville run with eight of the points himself to flip the Scots in front 59-56 with 14:22 showing. Morgan helped extend the lead to 68-63 with a 3-point play and back-to-back layups, accounting for 15 points in Maryville's 19-7 run.
Morgan sank six consecutive free throws over a 1-minute stretch and Maryville led 81-65 with 6:36 remaining.
Kemp Heats Up
Then it was
Reed Kemp's turn, and the junior guard scored 11 in a row for the Scots to push the advantage to 92-74 with just 2:38 remaining. Kemp finished with 18 points and a game-high and career-high four steals.
An
R.J. Simmons dunk and layup all but iced it, as Simmons completed a fantastic week. The sophomore forward over three games averaged 20.7 points and 8.3 rebounds to lead the Scots in both categories. He shot 74.2 percent from the floor, going 23-of-31, and added seven steals and three assists against just three turnovers.
"We knew we didn't play our best defense in the first half, and that was on us," said Placeres, who watched LaGrange shoot 58.6 percent from the floor in the opening period. "We had a lot of breakdowns, and then the second half didn't start like we wanted it. But we just kept preaching to stay the course. Once we took the lead, we never gave it back.
"On a night we shot well from the field (50.7 percent), we didn't shoot particularly well from three (4-of-17). But, man, did we shoot it from the free throw line!"
Free Throw Heaven
The Scots made 23 of their first 24 charity attempts before cooling at the end and missing three of their last five. Still, 86.2 percent on 25-of-29 is the best of the season.
Placeres praised the first-half guard play of
Kobe Franklin and
Logan Patterson, who gave the Scots great minutes when things were a bit shaky. He noted
Jackson Garner's 10th consecutive game scoring in double figures and said
Daryl Rice managed the game well.
"Daryl was so under control," Placeres said. "His stats tonight were nothing crazy, but his on-court demeanor and ability to defend were so good in the second half. He and
Javi Rosell were guarding Cam Lyons, and they held him to just one point in the second half."
Maryville outscored the LaGrange bench by 15 and won the game by 15.
Four-Game Homestand Next
Next for the Scots are four consecutive home games, starting Wednesday night against Warren Wilson. Maryville walloped the Owls 112-61 back on Dec. 3 in Swannanoa. That was Maryville's highest point total and largest margin of victory since November 2013.
Maryville stands 11-5 overall and 3-1 in the CCS. Warren Wilson enters at 2-10 with home wins over Oglethorpe and Brevard. The Scots then host Belhaven (Friday), Piedmont (Saturday) and Covenant (Tuesday week) to complete the homestand.
Tipoff Wednesday night is 7 p.m.
