Maryville Gets off the Deck, Rallies Past LaGrange in OT
LaGRANGE, Ga. – A cold-blooded theft.
That's the only way to describe Maryville's 69-64 overtime win over LaGrange down in Georgia on Friday night at historic Mariotti Gym. The Scots simply stole this one.
MC trailed the entirety of regulation and then never trailed in overtime – always a good thing – in defeating the Panthers and climbing back into a first-place tie. Maryville and LaGrange are both 6-2 in the Collegiate Conference of the South with four games remaining.
This week's CCS Rookie of the Week was Friday night's rookie of the game. Chase Morgan led the Scots with 17 points and blocked the final 3-point attempt by LaGrange as the clock was winding down and Maryville led by three.
He then capped off a 7-of-7 night at the line with two icing free throws for the final five-point margin.
10 Straight Defensive Stops
"It was a great small-college atmosphere," Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said. "Mariotti Gym was as packed as it's been in a long time. They had us down but we never panicked, even when things looked bleak. The key was getting the last 10 stops of regulation to send it to overtime."
You read that correctly. Maryville rallied from a 58-47 deficit with 7 minutes remaining by holding LaGrange scoreless on its last 10 possessions of the second half.
While that was going on, Jose Rodriguez began the comeback with a free throw, followed by a Charlie Cochran basket. Myles Rasnick had 2 points at that stage of the game but hit a jumper with 4:19 left to narrow the lead to 58-52.
Cochran made two free throws and then, in the final 100 seconds, Rasnick sank a pair of step-back jumpers to tie the contest at 58-all and send it to overtime.
Early OT Advantage
Daryl Rice opened the extra stanza with a jump shot just nine seconds into OT for Maryville's first lead of the game. LaGrange's Bershard Edwards connected to end the Panther drought, but Rice swished again and it was 62-60 Scots.
Jackson Garner sank a jump shot after offensive rebounds by Rodriguez and Cochran, and Rice made one of two free throws with 1:07 showing for a 65-62 Scots lead. Edwards drilled a 2-pointer from key to keep the Panthers alive, but then Rasnick dribbling around in hopes of getting fouled instead resulted in a wide open Cochran under the basket. The big man laid it in and Maryville led 67-64 with 9 seconds left.
The Panthers raced up court and Camerin Lyons got off a 3-point attempt from the top of the circle, but Morgan was there for the block and the rebound. LaGrange fouled the frosh with just a fraction of a second remaining and that was that.
"Those were big shots by Rasnick to send us to OT, and then big shots by Rice in the overtime," Placeres said. "Chase was huge for us, and Charlie had some really key plays at both ends of the floor there in the second half."
In addition to Morgan's 17, Cochran posted his fifth double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards, Garner scored 12 and Rasnick added 10. Zac Hill led LaGrange with 28 and 11.
Championship Pedigree
"We showed a championship pedigree tonight," Placeres said. "It doesn't magically happen, and it's a tribute to the schedule we have played and the situations we have been in against really good teams. It's impressive to win a game when you shoot like we did. That means your defensive was fantastic."
Maryville shot just 35.9 percent from the floor and was 2-of-15 from long range. The Scots made up for it with a 21-of-26 shooting night at the line, outscoring the host Panthers there 21-5.
Maryville also posted a slight rebounding edge of 44-42 and a huge advantage in bench points (31-4) that paid dividends down the stretch.
"LaGrange did a terrific job guarding our wings all night, but they were really tired at the end," Placeres said. "We went zone to get the comeback started because we wanted to see if they could shoot like they had been when it was time to seal the game. Fortunately for us, they didn't."
The Scots trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half at 24-11 before rallying to within 31-29 at halftime. LaGrange then went right back in front 43-31 by the 15-minute mark and maintained a mostly double-digit advantage. The Panthers still led 58-47 with 7 minutes remaining before Maryville's final comeback.
"Both teams played really hard," Placeres said. "I have incredible respect for Coach (Kendal) Wallace and the way he runs his program. We're pretty sure this won't be the last time we see them this year."
First OT Win Since 2016
Maryville under Placeres won for the fourth straight time at LaGrange, all the while losing five in a row to the Panthers at home. This also was Maryville's first overtime win since 2016, when the Scots outlasted Hendrix 94-84 in double-overtime at the Music City Classic in Nashville. The Scots had lost their last six OT encounters, including 101-98 at home last season to LaGrange.
Tied at 6-2 atop the standings, both Maryville (12-8) and LaGrange (14-7) have four games remaining. The Scots take on Huntington on Saturday and then host Covenant on Tuesday. After that, it's road games at Berea (Feb. 15) and Piedmont (Feb. 18). LaGrange is home against Piedmont (Tuesday), Berea (Feb. 10) and Belhaven (Feb. 11) before finishing the season at Covenant (Feb. 15).
Maryville has no time to enjoy this one. The Scots take on Huntingdon on Saturday at 4 p.m. Central time. The Hawks lost 74-68 at home to Berea on Friday night, falling to 1-20 overall and 0-9 in conference. Maryville won the first meeting 96-61 back on Jan. 15.
"Now you've got to flip the switch and get ready for a game Saturday," Placeres said. "If we don't bring it Saturday against Huntingdon, everything we did Friday night goes to waste."