MARYVILLE – In a game of "First One to 30 Wins," Maryville's
Reed Kemp scored 32 points and led the Scots to a hard-fought 82-77 victory over Berry here Tuesday night.
Maryville needed all 32 of Kemp's points to stave off a tremendous effort from Vikings guard Braxton Benham, who scored a career-high 27 on 10-of-17 shooting. Benham added three assists and three steals without a turnover to complete his all-around performance.
But Kemp matched Benham basket for basket, scoring 20 points in the second half to keep the Scots in front. Kemp finished 8-of-12 from the floor, including a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown, and was 13-of-15 at the line.
Last year at Berry, Kemp scored a career-high 39 points to lift Maryville to an 85-83 victory. Tuesday night was his fourth 30-point game in two seasons with the Scots.
Dominant Darius
"Another big game for Reed," Maryville head coach
Raul Placeres said. "It feels like he sees that Berry blue uniform – that's 71 points in two games against them.
"We had nine guys in the scoring column, which is good. Great minutes from
Kobe Franklin, who is trending in the right direction.
Collin Smith was fantastic tonight. He played with great competitive spirit and was on the boards – that's what we need from him. And what about Darius."
Darius Martin over 12½ minutes of game action scored seven points with three rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots. Add in the shots he affected and Placeres could not sing his praises enough.
"Great minutes, and very active," Placeres said. "He had four blocks, but he affected maybe five or six more. Just happy with the way he dialed in and helped us. He infuses energy into the game and our team. That's important."
A back-and-forth affair finally turned the Scots' way on a thunderous Martin dunk that made it 63-62 with 8:18 remaining.
Kyle Cloninger had the assist and, although it was close the rest of the way, Maryville never trailed again.
Late Free Throws Key
Kemp drove for a layup off
Chase Morgan's feed to put the Scots in front 68-64 with 5:46 showing. Kemp's corner 3-pointer from another Cloninger dish made it 73-67 with 3:38 to play.
In the final minute, Kemp and
Jackson Garner both sank three of four free throw attempts and Cloninger added the last point to push Maryville above .500 for the first time this season.
Garner scored 12 points and Cloninger led all players with five assists. He has nine assists in the last two games to up his average to 2.2.
Maryville's best shooting night of the young season saw the Scots make 29-of-53 for 54.7 percent. MC was particularly sharp in the second half, going 15-of-26 for 57.7 percent. Maryville for the game was 4-of-12 from 3-point range – just 1-of-7 in the second half – and made 20-of-31 at the charity stripe for 64.5 percent. Berry made just 14-of-25 at the line for 56.0 percent.
"That's an NCAA tournament team," Placeres said of the Vikings. "We found a way to win and have gotten the better side in three of our last four games where it has gone down to the last 2 minutes.
"Another quick turnaround with Gettysburg on Friday. They won again and are 5-0, so that will be a good team. Winning is hard, and whenever we can get one, we celebrate it."
Hampden-Sydney Tourney Next
Maryville improved to 3-2, with Berry now 2-3. The Scots are now 11-1 all-time against Berry, including a 5-1 home record.
The Scots play Friday and Saturday at the Hampden-Sydney Tip-Off Tournament, opening against Gettysburg on Friday at 5:30 p.m. The host Tigers, who last year advanced to the national championship game in a 31-3 season, take on Pfeiffer in Friday's nightcap.
Saturday's games are 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
