MARYVILLE – Maryville kept a pair of winning streaks going while putting an end to an annoying losing streak – all in the same 40 minutes.
The Scots finally defeated their nemesis LaGrange in a home game, outscoring the Panthers 97-77 here Friday night. Thus ends the quirky set of results that over the previous 10 games of this series saw the Scots go 5-0 at LaGrange and 0-5 at home against the Panthers.
Maryville also extended its winning streak to eight to match a season-best and won for the 11th consecutive time at home, dating to last season.
Kendal Wallace is the head coach at LaGrange in his 13th season. Wallace played for the Scots in 1991-92 and 1992-93, combining for a 45-10 record those two years under Randy Lambert. He then coached a combined seven years at Lambert's side before taking the LaGrange position.
Raul Placeres replaced Wallace on Lambert's staff.
"Coach Wallace does a great job," Placeres said. "He's an alum of ours, so I'm always going to have so much respect for him. He's a Scot. The love is there, but it's not total love – he's an opponent. He always has his guys ready to play. They're really tough.
"But tonight, we were able to keep them in the 12- to 18-point range for most of the second half. It was a great win. Almost 100 points. Should have been if we make our free throws."
Maryville shot the ball well, finishing above 50 percent from the floor in both halves and at 51.9 percent for the game. But that didn't translate to the free throw line, where Maryville finished just 8-of-17. The Scots also came out on the short end in rebounding at 51-45.
"Two glaring things as a coach," Placeres said. "We are going to have to rebound better. There were a lot of long rebounds – sometimes that happens. And we have to be better from the free throw line, that's for sure."
Nearly a 50-Point Half
The teams traded baskets early before Maryville took the lead for keeps on a
Chase Morgan corner 3-ball that made it 10-7 Scots with 16:30 showing. The best MC run of the game was 10 in a row that upped the score to 28-13 on
Jackson Garner's 3-pointer with 9:18 on the clock. Garner's driving layup in the closing seconds pushed the halftime lead to 48-32.
Reed Kemp's steal and layup with 18:30 left lifted Maryville to a 56-36 advantage. LaGrange responded with a 14-6 run over the next 5:18 to pull within 62-50, but Maryville held the line there and soon was comfortably back in front. The lead ballooned to 81-57 on Kemp's three-point-play from a
Javi Rosell assist with 7:10 showing, and the Scots coasted from there.
Kemp was Maryville's solo scoring leader for the 10th time this season, finishing with 23 points and seven rebounds.
R.J. Simmons contributed his second double-double in less than a month with 16 points and a game-high 12 boards, while Morgan scored 12 and Garner 11.
Rosell and
Daryl Rice tallied eight points apiece and chipped in with a combined eight assists and four steals against just two turnovers.
"It's big shoes to fill coming into a program like this, but the veterans on this team have been the best leaders – just by example and by their voice," Rosell said. "It's been a pleasure to play under
Daryl Rice at the point guard position. And
Reed Kemp and
Jackson Garner have been phenomenal leaders. All you can do is learn from them.
"It comes with Coach Placeres and Coach McCord believing in me from the start and my teammates believing in me. I know I have a team that has my back, and I trust them and trust my game."
Rosell's eight points were a season-high, and he finished 3-of-3 from the field and 2-of-2 from the line. His two assists in the game give him 37 for the season against just nine turnovers.
"He's a young man who really cares about his teammates, who works extremely hard and who is extremely selfless," Placeres said. "He's going to be a really good player for us, and tonight he brought great energy.
"When you have two guys like him and Daryl, with eight assists and just two turnovers for 16 points, you give yourself good chances to win. My point guards were 7-of-10 from the field today and perfect from the free throw line – that's a great combination there."
Big Contributions from the Bench
Keith Williams scored eight points and
Logan Patterson pulled down five boards. The Maryville bench compiled a 43-14 scoring edge against their Panther counterparts.
The Scots held LaGrange to just 35.5 percent from the floor, including 4-of-21 from downtown. Samuel Moss was the Panther high scorer with 18.
"It was another great team effort," Placeres said. "I have not lost a game at LaGrange, but I had not beaten them here, until tonight. Something had to give, either our home game winning streak or they continued to beat us here.
"But the guys did a great job of keeping our winning streaks going with great performances all the way around."
Maryville improved to 16-5 overall and 8-1 in the Collegiate Conference of the South. Huntingdon visits Saturday for Senior Day. The Hawks won Friday night at Berea 86-79 to give Maryville a
two-game cushion in the standings. Huntingdon enters at 9-11 overall and 3-4 in the league.
The Scots started fast in Montgomery last month and registered a 109-68 victory, accounting for the most points on the road against a league opponent in Maryville's storied history.
The Athletics Department is recognizing seniors Rice and
Chase Ridenour between games of the women's and men's doubleheader. The women's game tips off at 2 p.m., and the men are scheduled to begin around 4 p.m.
