MONTGOMERY, Ala. – It wasn't as if Maryville didn't have options.
Tie ballgame. On the road. Final possession. 16.8 seconds on the clock. Among those on the floor for the Scots were
Chase Morgan and his career-high 34 points, and
Reed Kemp with 21 points, 1,000 career points and his top-10 national shooting touch from 3-point distance.
So which play did the Scots run? First-year guard
Kyle Cloninger brought the ball up court and, with eight seconds left, drove toward the basket. That move caused the defense to cave, leaving first-year guard
Jamal Ware alone in the right-hand corner.
Cloninger fed Ware and the Miami product did not hesitate, putting up and swishing a 3-pointer for his FIRST FIELD GOAL OF THE NIGHT to lift Maryville past Huntingdon 80-77.
Ware had scored exactly 1 point over his 13 minutes of game action to that point but credit the first-year Scot when it was his time to shine.
Freshman to Freshman
"I typically run that play for Jackson," Maryville head coach
Raul Placeres said of his junior guard,
Jackson Garner. "It allows us to get downhill, and Kyle did a fantastic job. He drew in the extra defender and, like we've been preaching all year, you trust your teammates.
"He did that, freshman to freshman. Man, what a moment!"
Maryville's late miracle snapped a nearly 2½-minute scoring drought for the Scots, allowing Huntingdon to rally from a 77-72 deficit.
Chase Morgan sank a pair of free throws with 2:30 on the clock to put the Scots up by five, but Huntingdon rallied and tied the score on Martise Jackson's layup with 16.8 seconds remaining.
After Ware's 3-pointer, Huntingdon still had a little under seven seconds left to get off a tying attempt. But Jaylen Washington's running 3-pointer did not connect, and the Scots had a monster road victory early in the conference season.
Maryville and Belhaven are 3-0 in the Collegiate Conference of the South standings, with Huntingdon falling to 4-1.
"I knew this was going to be hard because we had less than 24 hours to prepare for a team that was 14-2 and having the best season in the history of their program in their NCAA era," Placeres said. "I knew we were going to get their best punch. And we found a way.
"With five minutes to go, I told them teams with championship caliber and guys who have been there and gone through it know that you find a way in these games. You've got to close it out, and that's what we were able to do."
From Up 10 to Down 10
Both teams held 10-point leads in this game. Maryville started fast and broke in front 12-2 on Morgan's layup just three minutes into the contest. After Huntingdon went to the locker room up 41-39 at intermission, the Hawks came out firing to start the second half and built a 54-44 margin when BJ Brown converted a layup with 16:02 remaining.
Brown went on to lead the Hawks with 26 points.
But game honors went to Morgan, who scored 35 for his second collegiate 30-point game (31 last year at LaGrange). The junior forward added nine rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and two steals without committing a turnover in 34 minutes.
"I told him after the game he was due, and I knew it was coming," Placeres said. "They have some really good bigs. They rotate like three different guys who are super athletic. But I didn't think they were as skilled as Chase, and Chase definitely delivered, including a ferocious dunk in transition from Javi to cut it to one.
"When he has that look like he did tonight, you just give him the ball and everybody get out of the way. He and Reed really helped us out not only with their offense but with their defense. Reed took on the responsibility of trying to shut down their point guard, Brown, who is exceptional."
Kemp Reaches 1,000 Points
Kemp with his 21 points eclipsed 1,000 for his collegiate career. The Franklin native scored a combined 157 points during his first two seasons at Missouri Western. He has scored 859 in two seasons with the Scots, giving him 1,016 for his four-year NCAA career.
The senior was 2-for-3 from 3-point distance, boosting his season percentage to an even 50 percent (49-of-98) from downtown and keeping himself ranked among the top five nationally in that category.
Garner scored 11 points for the Scots before being sidelined by an injury, and Cloninger added six points, eight rebounds and four steals to his two assists. For the season, Cloninger has 39 assists against just eight turnovers.
Huntingdon's Brown leads the CCS in assists at 6.5, and he had six Saturday to go with his 26 points. But
Javi Rosell is fourth in the league in assists at 3.4 and the top man in assist-to-turnover ratio at +2.9. Cloninger's radio is +4.9, but he does not have enough assists to qualify.
Maryville after a 2-0 weekend and 3-0 week improves to 12-4 overall, winners of eight in a row. That matches the current Belhaven streak. Those teams meet next Saturday afternoon in Maryville.
The next Scots action is at home Friday at 6 p.m. against Piedmont, which is 9-7 overall and 2-2 in the CCS.
