MARYVILLE – Maryville placed three 20-point scorers into the box score for the first time in the
Raul Placeres Era and the Scots hustled past Huntington 91-71 here Friday night.
Chase Morgan scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and five assists, posting game highs in all three categories along with his fourth double-double of the season.
Reed Kemp and
Kyle Cloninger added 23 points apiece, with Cloninger scoring a season-high. The first-year finished 11-of-12 shooting from the floor.
"Just an exceptional night for those three guys, collectively," said Placeres, who improved to 95-41 in his sixth season leading the Scots. "It is a tribute to sharing the ball as a team and being selfless enough to feed the guys who are hot."
Maryville scored all 91 points from its five starters, with
Javi Rosell adding 11 and
Kobe Franklin eight. Huntingdon's bench outscored Maryville's reserves 24-0, but the Scots countered by shooting their best team percentage of the season at 55.6 from the floor.
Streaky All Night
That may have been what led to such a streaky game, with Maryville in front by 16 in the first half, ahead 48-45 at intermission, Huntingdon taking a 49-48 lead a minute into the second half, before MC outscored the Hawks 31-12 over the final 12:32.
"We had them on the ropes in the first half and we were very lethargic in that eight-to-four-minute frame before the last media timeout," Placeres said. "We were trying to do too much when the game flowed perfectly fine. And then we just didn't get stops.
"So we reminded them at halftime about the habits that help you win in February. The habits you have worked on since September, right? Those are the things that get you through in February. And we went away from those good habits that got us a 16-point lead."
Morgan in two games against Huntingdon this season has scored 60 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and handed out 10 assists. The junior is up to 934 points as a Scot, keeping him on track to reach 1,000 career points before this season is complete.
Five Points from 1,000
Kemp should become the 37th men's player to reach 1,000 points in a Scots uniform Saturday afternoon against LaGrange. The Franklin senior is at 995 points in his two Maryville seasons after mustering his 18th game of 20 or more points in 2023-24, including the last 11 in a row.
Here is the list of games when Kemp did NOT score at least 20 points: 7 vs. Mary Washington, 16 vs. Washington & Lee and 11 vs. Warren Wilson. That's it. That's the list.
Cloninger posted his season scoring high while also locking down defensively against Huntingdon's best scorer, BJ Brown, and limiting him to four points in the decisive second half. Cloninger's scoring average is a season-high 8.4. In conference, he is up to 11.8.
"I was proud of Chase – another double-double," Placeres said. "He's had two outstanding games against them. He had 34 and nine the first time and today he goes for 26 and 10.
"I challenged Reed, and he's going to be better Saturday. But every time you think he didn't play that well, you look at the box score and he shoots 50 percent from the field and scores 23 points. What can you say?
"And Cloninger was sensational. Twenty-three points, one missed shot and guarded their best player. He had help from his teammates, but we forced Brown into nine turnovers and held him to 14 points."
12th Straight Win over Hawks
Placeres also praised Franklin and Rosell. He called Franklin more aggressive, confident and displaying a passion that had been missing from his game. For Rosell, Placeres said the Miami point guard was a great floor general with 11 points, seven rebounds and great energy against the Hawks.
"It was very evident that our defensive habits came through after halftime, because we held them the 27 percent from the field and 13 percent from three in the second half," Placeres said. "And we did an excellent job of not fouling them. They scored only two points at the free throw line after halftime."
Maryville and Huntingdon both stand 16-5 overall, with the Scots 7-1 in Collegiate Conference of the South action and the Hawks 5-3. With their 12th straight victory over Huntingdon, the Scots improved to 51-6 all-time against the Hawks in the series that began in January 1998.
Four Scots Honored Saturday
Next for the Scots is Senior Day against LaGrange. The Panthers lost 81-73 at Asbury on Friday night and arrive at 6-16 overall and 1-8 in the league. Between the women's and men's games, the Maryville College Athletics Department is recognizing four men's basketball seniors: Kemp,
Malachi Chipp,
Darius Martin and
Hayden Treadwell.
"It is every coach's dream to win for the seniors on Senior Day," Placeres said. "That is our goal Saturday as a team. They all get into the starting lineup, so I'm excited about that. There should be some juice in the building with those four starting. They have been part of a lot of wins.
"We have a chance to average 20 wins a season over their four years, and winning three regular season championships and two tournament championships thus far is hard to accomplish. They also have been instrumental in boosting our profile in the classroom. Hopefully, we can celebrate them and have a good game."
Tipoff for the women's game Saturday is 2 p.m. Senior Day for the men's team begins approximately 25 minutes after the conclusion of the women's game.
