Maryville Grinds Past Berea 72-63; Earn Hosting Duties
BEREA, Ky. – Maryville has turned a preseason pick into regular season reality.
The Scots won their seventh game in a row here Wednesday night and clinched the inaugural Collegiate Conference of the South regular season title with a 72-63 victory at Berea. CCS coaches picked Maryville to capture the league banner this year, voting in unanimous fashion for the Scots.
Maryville improved to 9-2 in conference, and that's two games clear of second-place Belhaven with just one game remaining. The Scots are 5-0 on the road in league play thus far. They get the chance to complete a perfect road slate Saturday at Piedmont.
"I'm just really proud of our toughness and our resiliency," Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said. "There have been some games on the road where we've found a way, and tonight was no different. I'm super proud of everybody. Everyone contributed to this win, and as a coach, that's the best feeling."
27 Assists on 30 Field Goals
The Scots finished with a season-high 27 assists on 30 made baskets for an incredible 90 percent rate. The team's previous high for assists was 24 on two occasions: when MC scored 100 against Rowan and 96 versus Belhaven. Maryville's previous best percentage of assisted baskets was 69 percent (20 assists on 28 field goals) in the first meeting against Berea.
"To have 27 assists on 30 field goals – that's got to be a career high for me as a coach," Placeres said. "I challenged them before the game to move the ball, and they certainly did that. We hurt them inside a bunch and that was because we moved it so well.
"And another great defensive effort, holding them below 70 points."
Among the individual highlights were these box score beauties:
Charlie Cochran posted his sixth double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 boards. He was 3-of-5 from 3-point distance.- Jackson Garner had a season-high eight assists to go with another pair of 3-pointers. The Knoxville first-year guard leads the team with 47 threes.
- Myles Rasnick scored 18 points, raising his career total to 999. He sits at 981 in a Maryville uniform (scored first 18 at ETSU), so Saturday would be a great time to eclipse 1,000 points in both categories.
- Cochran scored 14 points in the first half and Rasnick scored 14 in the second.
- Chase Morgan tallied11 to reach double figures for the seventh game in a row.
- Maryville dominated Berea on the boards 38-19, resulting in a 12-2 edge in second-chance points. Basically the difference in the game.
- Maryville's bench outscored the Berea bench 31-15. Cochran (20) and Morgan (11) accounted for the Maryville 31.
Berea broke in front early and maintained the lead over the first 12 minutes. It wasn't until Daryl Rice knocked down an elbow jumper that Maryville went in front for the first time 20-18 right at the 8-minute mark.
From that point, there were four more ties and two more lead changes before Maryville put on a push over the final 6 minutes.
Late First-Half Run
It was 24-22 Berea when the Scots closed out the half on a 12-3 run. Morgan and Cochran scored five points apiece during that stretch and Rice drilled another jumper. The final bucket of the half came on a Cochran home-run pass to a streaking Morgan for the lay-in.
Maryville led 34-27 at intermission.
When Rice opened the second half with another elbow jumper – where else!? – Maryville had its largest lead at 36-27. It was still tough sledding as the Mountaineers kept fighting, wanting to pull off a win on Senior Night and expand upon their three-game winning streak.
But all three of those wins came on the road, where Berea is 9-3 compared to now 5-7 at home. The Scots never let the Mountaineers move in front thanks to making 16 of 23 from the field for just shy of 70 percen in the second half.
When Garner got loose for a corner 3-ball from an inbounds pass, Maryville led 68-62 with 1:39 remaining. Then after a Berea miss, Garner found Jose Rodriguez for the layup and a 70-62 cushion.
Time to celebrate.
Post-Game Reaction
"I love playing with Chase," Cochran said of his sixth-man companion. "We just know where the other one is at all times. Tonight was fun. My shot felt great, especially once we got into the game. It just felt natural."
Morgan said his teamwork with Cochran has been growing since the onset of conference play.
"In practice, our chemistry has been getting better and I always have a feel for where he is and he finds me as well. Tonight, we started keeping them honest with our skip passes and Charlie got going with his shot and that helped us out a lot."
Rasnick said Placeres challenged him at halftime to pick up his game.
"I wasn't playing as well, so I took it upon myself to calm down and try and make my shots easier. I was making them too tough in the first half. Once I got my rhythm, I felt good about my shots and my teammates found me.
"We're at our best when we are moving the ball, and we are at our best when we make plays easier for each other. We have enough people who can handle the ball and pass the ball. It might not be one person's night one night, but they can get someone else open shots. Jackson had eight assists tonight when normally he's the one knocking them down. For a freshman to have that much maturity, it has to do with our tough schedule at the beginning of the year. It's paying off in crunch time now."
Maryville takes on Piedmont in the regular season finale Saturday at 4 p.m. The Scots get a bye in the CCS tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday and are hosting the semifinals and finals next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24 and 25. Game times and ticket information will be announced soon.
"We want to go undefeated on the road in conference play and get our 16th win of the year," Placeres said. "This is the game that started this run, losing to Piedmont at home. We still have aspirations of getting to the NCAA tournament – a lot of things have to shake our way and the stars have to align. But all we can do is take care of the next game, and the next game is Piedmont at 4 o'clock Saturday.