Scots Handle Ferrum for Travillian's 250th Coaching Victory

MARYVILLE – Ferrum arrived at the Cooper Athletic Center just in time.
 
The Scots took care of the Panthers 59-49 here Wednesday night, presenting head coach Darrin Travillian with his 250th career coaching victory in the process. Ferrum also played the victim back in December 2019 when Travillian reached the 200-win mark.
 
"Two-hundred and fifty wins is a reflection of the players we have had, but you've also got to be somewhere for a little while to make that happen," said Travillian, now in his 14th season as the Maryville head coach. "We've had consistency and continuity in our program, and every assistant coach I've ever had played for me.
 
"The 250 wins speaks to the brand of basketball we have played so far, but I want 250 more. Let's keep on going. No. 251 will be better than 250."


 
Five-Year Low of Five Turnovers
Maryville's first home game of the young season saw the Scots defeat Ferrum for the sixth time in a row and the ninth time in the last 10 meetings. Diligence was the big reason for this 10-point victory, with Maryville committing just five turnovers.
 
The Scots fired 66 field goal attempts to Ferrum's 42, they outrebounded the Panthers 42-36 – including a 17-6 advantage in offensive boards – and forced 15 turnovers to their own five. Those five turnovers were the fewest by the Scots since committing that same number against Wesleyan back in January 2019 – nearly five years ago!
 
"The things we talked about that we had to do today was defend, rebound and take care of the ball," Travillian said. "They were a plus-rebounding team coming in, so we outrebounded them. They have been getting around 14 offensive rebounds and we held them to six, which was really important. We got 17 offensive rebounds, which was great.
 
"But only having the five turnovers after we came in averaging 21 – there's your big discrepancy in shot attempts."
 
Courtney Carruthers swished 3-pointers on Maryville's first two possessions, leading to an early 12-4 advantage. The Scots led 14-7 but scored just two points over the final 5:11, and Ferrum pulled within 16-15 by the end of the first quarter.
 
Ferrum broke in front 20-16, capping a 13-2 run, before Carruthers scored and Emily Allen cashed a 3-ball to put the Scots back ahead. Scoring was at a premium the rest of the half, and the teams went to the locker room knotted 26-all.


 
Cathers Converts in Second Half
After a couple of scoreless minutes to begin the third quarter, Olivia Cathers converted a second-chance bucket and Ella Haney made good on a 3-point play for a 31-26 Maryville lead. Cathers scored late in the period before Ferrum's Kayla Cabiness sank a pair of free throws to make it 42-36 Scots headed to the fourth.
 
Ella Tharpe hit a pull-up jumper, Emma Huskey grabbed an offensive board and scored and then Cathers swished a turnaround jump shot to push the Scots in front 48-38 with 6:23 remaining. Maryville enjoyed its best-scoring quarter of the night, led by five from Cathers, four from Huskey and four from Carruthers.
 
Ferrum never drew closer than eight points over the final eight minutes.
 
Both teams shot exactly 33.3 percent from the floor, with Maryville outscoring the Panthers by 16 points with their eight extra made field goals. Ferrum did its damage at the free throw line, converting 17 of 25.
 
Cabiness led all scorers with 24 points.
 
Carruthers was the Maryville high scorer with 18, followed by Cathers with 11 and Haney with 10. Huskey, Carruthers and Ella Tharpe all grabbed seven rebounds, and Ella Tharpe was the assist leader with four.


 
Two Weeks of Good Practices
"It was a really good win," Travillian said. "The fact we got to play at home was crucial. We played our first six games in 20 days, which because of travel and off days we weren't getting very much practice time. The biggest thing for me these last two weeks is I don't think we had a bad practice. It was beneficial to get in the gym and just be able to teach.
 
"Those two weeks of practice reinvigorated our entire group. They had great attitudes and great energy."
 
Maryville at 2-5 is home again Monday against Centre, which is 7-0 heading to the Oglethorpe Classic this weekend. Tipoff once again is 5 p.m.