BEREA, Ky. – Make it four straight regular season crowns for the Maryville Scots!
Maryville broke in front early and never relented in winning the Collegiate Conference of the South's regular season championship for the second year in a row, smashing Berea 89-60. Same gym. Same uniforms. Same fabulous result.
The first two titles in this string of four came in the USA South, but a change of conferences hasn't slowed down the Scots. Maryville under head coach
Raul Placeres is 42-8 in its last 50 games against league competition.
"We clinched it," Placeres said from the bus ride home. "It's the only game we had this week and our goal was to put this one to bed.
"We played exceptionally well. We got off to a great start, our defense was fantastic and we were highly efficient offensively in the second half.
Maryville broke in front 8-0 and never trailed in this one. The Scots led 42-22 at halftime after limiting the Mountaineers to 28 percent shooting from the field and 0-of-7 from long distance. It didn't get much better for Berea after the break. BC finished the game at 32 percent from the floor and 5-of-25 from three.
Season-High 15 Threes
The Scots, meanwhile, never led by fewer than 17 points in the second half and built the lead to as much as 89-58 in the final 100 seconds. They shot 52.4 percent overall and swished a season-high 15 3-pointers on 28 attempts for 53.6 percent from distance.
The 89 points scored were right on Maryville's average in conference play.
"We celebrated Daryl after the game," Placeres said, referring to senior point guard
Daryl Rice. "He's been here four years and has four regular season championships. What a career. He is one of the many talented players on this team who sacrifice for each other, and you see the results."
Rice led all players with seven assists against just two turnovers.
Many of those assists found the hands of
Reed Kemp, who continued his hot shooting with 27 points on 11-of-18 from the floor. He was 5-of-9 beyond the arc, making one more than teammate
Jackson Garner at 4-of-7 on his way to 14 points.
Kemp over his last four games has scored 25, 23, 30 and 27 points, averaging 26.3 in that mini-sample size. His scoring average is up to 19.1 overall and 21.1 in league play.
Simmons Keeps Streak Alive
Chase Morgan scored 11 and
R.J. Simmons just missed a third straight double-double with 10 points and eight boards. The 10 points did, however, extend his streak of scoring in double figures to 10 games, which is the team's longest this season.
All told, 11 different Scots found the scoring column.
Malachi Chipp cashed in a couple of threes for six points,
Jaylon Green knocked down a trey and scored five, and first-year Scot
Kobe Franklin joined
Logan Patterson in sinking a 3-pointer.
The Scots won their seventh game in a row against Berea, improving to 13-1 all-time versus the Mountaineers. That figure includes a perfect 6-0 record on the BC home court.
This game marked the final regular season meeting as conference foes between these interstate rivals, with Berea moving next season to the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference. Asbury from Wilmore, Kentucky, is replacing Berea in the CCS.
CCS Tourney Headed to Cooper
Maryville plays again next Tuesday at Covenant. MC is 18-5 overall and 10-1 in the CCS, having won 10 straight to match last year's season-ending win streak. Two years ago, the Scots put together a 14-game run on their way to a 20-4 ledger.
Twenty wins is within reach again this season, and that would mark the 22nd time in program history.
Maryville's final regular season home date is Feb. 17 against Warren Wilson in a 6 p.m. start.
The Scots are locked in as host for the CCS tournament semifinals and final Feb. 23-24. Plan to attend the semifinal doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. that Friday (Maryville plays in Game 2), with the Saturday championship contest tipping off at 3 p.m.
