JACKSON, Miss. – Now the wait begins.
Maryville realized its season-long Drive for Five, forcing a tiebreaker decision from the Collegiate Conference of the South after going into Belhaven's gym Friday night and producing a hard-fought 77-72 victory. Belhaven on its way to 11-0 in league play had knocked off the Scots 91-83 in Maryville on Jan. 25.
The tiebreaker is the NCAA Power Index, or NPI Ranking. Entering Thursday's play, Belhaven was ranked 38th at 60.568 points, with Maryville 52nd at 58.842. How much a road victory flips those rankings remains to be seen.
But no matter where the CCS Tournament takes place, a third matchup between these two regular season co-champions should be worth the price of admission.
'What a Game! What a Game!'
Maryville with the victory pockets a fifth consecutive regular season conference championship – the Drive for Five. The Scots reach 20 wins for the second straight year and the third time in four seasons since Covid. And MC finishes 11-1 in conference play and improves to 32-4 in three regular seasons against the CCS, 36-4 counting the postseason.
Head coach
Raul Placeres improves to 99-41 in his sixth season at the Scots helm.
"What a game! What a game!" Placeres said. "It's a great day to be a Scot, that's for sure! I'm just proud, really proud. I got a little emotional in the locker room after the game because it takes great toughness and grit to beat a team like Belhaven.
"Forget our conference, they had been playing as well as anyone in the country with one of the longest winning streaks in the nation. You don't win 16 games in a row if you are not a good basketball team."
Blazers' Win Streak Halted at 16
Belhaven's 16-game winning streak was the fourth-longest active run in Division III, trailing only top-ranked Wesleyan (Connecticut) at 24, Randolph-Macon at 18 and Calvin at 17. And Maryville once again had to overcome the Blazers' size and rebounding prowess. Belhaven finished with a 40-25 edge on the boards, resulting in a 21-0 margin in second-chance points.
"They are an exceptional rebounding team," Placeres said. "We tried our best to limit them but they're just exceptional. Jacob Reese is an unbelievable player, averaging a double-double for the year and he got 14 off the glass tonight to go with 20 points.
"But the difference today was our ability to defend. We held them to 39 percent from the field and 29 percent from the 3-point line."
During Belhaven's January win in Cooper, the Blazers shot a season-best 56.7 percent from the field.
Fast-Break Points Proved Crucial
Maryville helped itself by outscoring Belhaven 24-12 on the fast break. Even when the Blazers scored, the Scots raced the ball upcourt to find a seam and search for an easy bucket.
"We had to be super-efficient offensively; that's how we had to hurt them," Placeres said. "Take advantage of fast-break points and be efficient with the ball on the offensive end. And we shot 50 percent from the field, 47 percent from three and 79 percent from the line."
Reed Kemp fought through a challenging first half to score 30 points for the fourth straight game. Belhaven held him to six in the first half, but Kemp was 6-of-10 from the floor after the intermission, including 2-of-3 from downtown, and made 10 of his last 12 free throw attempts.
Kemp is up to third on the all-time Maryville season scoring chart with 632 points. He trails only leader Dan McKinstry (1971-72) with 645 and Bill Padgett (1967-68) with 640.
Another Mr. 1,000 for Scots!
Chase Morgan became the 38th member of the Maryville Men's Basketball 1,000-Point Club. Morgan scored 19 points—15 in the first half—and has 1,015 for his three years as a Scot. Earlier this month, Kemp became the club's 37th member.
Kyle Cloninger added 11 points and
Kobe Franklin chipped in a career-high nine. His final basket of the game was a step-back jumper that gave the Scots a 75-72 lead with 1:38 remaining.
"Toughness travels, and I can't get over how tenacious and tough and together we were throughout this game," Placeres said. "It was a game of runs, with 10 ties and 15 lead changes, but we led for nearly 30 minutes (29:17) by making big shots when we needed to.
"There's no pressure when you're prepared, and we did our best as a staff and as players to be as prepared as we could. We coined our Drive for Five motto from the start of the year. Winning five championships in a row at any level is hard but doing it when you are picked to win the league every year is incredible."
Anticipating Round 3
Placeres recognizes the likelihood of a third meeting between Maryville and Belhaven, although he is hoping it takes place in the Cooper Athletic Center. For now, he awaits official word from the CCS.
"We may have a Round 3 – we will know here next week," Placeres said. "But for now, we're super excited to win another regular season championship and get a bye in the conference tournament. God-willing, I will see the NPI numbers, and we will be hosting next Friday."
Fun Fact: Over each team's last 17 games, both Maryville and Belhaven are 16-1, with the only losses coming at home to each other.
Maryville enters the league tournament at 20-5 overall, with Belhaven at 21-4. The winner of the CCS tourney earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.
