LaGRANGE, Ga. – A scrappy game turns in favor of Maryville, as the Scots take down the Panthers 67-52 in their first road CCS match up of the season.
The game began as a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading blows. The road Scots pulled away in the latter part of the first half and never looked back on their way to a 15-point victory.
Automatic Buckets
Reed Kemp and Jackson Garner helped lift MC to the victory with a combined 44 points, shooting over 50% from the floor together. The duo has scored 345 and 253 points this season respectively, good for first and third in the CCS. Kemp's total puts him sixth in NCAA DIII in points scored this season, and also ranks sixth in 3-point percentage at 48%.
Assisting the Cause
Chase Morgan led the Scots with 11 rebounds, his third double-digit rebounding performance of the year, and the sixth of his career, and added four blocks to go along with that. Javi Rosell assisted on four baskets and only committed one turnover. Rosell leads the team with 47 assists so far this season and ranks fourth in the conference in the same category.
Did Someone Say Defense?
LaGrange's 52 points are the fewest surrendered by Maryville this season, and the fewest allowed in a 40-minute game since an 86-49 victory at Covenant late last season. The 52 points by the Panthers is also the lowest total Maryville has allowed to LaGrange since Feb. 18, 2012, when the Scots won 63-50. This was LaGrange's low point-total of the season and worst shooting performance at 25.5 percent (13-of-51).
"I was really proud of our defensive effort," Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said. "In the first leg of this back-to-back, our defense needed to travel. And it sure as heck did tonight, holding them to 52 points. We held him to 25 percent shooting and 15 percent from three, which are exceptional numbers on the defensive end of the floor.
"They were just 1-of-14 from three in the second half."
The two teams combined to commit 37 personal fouls (26 in the second half) and shot 59 free throws (28 in the last 12 minutes).
"It was another big-time team win, and everybody got to play, which is always great. I always enjoy that," Placeres said.
Up Next
Placeres stressed the importance of tomorrow's game as well,
"Now tomorrow, we face a team having the best season probably in their program's history," Placeres said. "They are undefeated in the league and they won again Friday night, so Saturday is a big one. We've got to put a game plan together and get ready for those guys."
The Scots have now won seven games in a row and sit at 11-4 (2-0) overall, with a match up against Huntingdon (14-2, 4-0) on deck tomorrow at 4 p.m. CT. The game promises to be a thrilling one between two teams who are both on winning streaks and undefeated in conference play.
