Maryville Slides Past Sewanee 73-70; Morgan Career-High 22
SEWANEE, Tenn. – Maryville overcame a dreadfully cold shooting night and rallied past Sewanee 73-70 for its first win of the young season here Wednesday.
Chase Morgan led all scorers with a career high 22 points. The sophomore was 9-of-11 at the stripe and blocked three shots, including a key one in the closing seconds. Morgan also swished his only 3-point attempt.
The Scots also got a big boost from their bench when things were looking grim in the second half. R.J. Simmons, Logan Patterson, Jaylon Green, Kobe Franklin and Simon Wilbar were on the floor and produced a 13-4 run that turned a 46-39 deficit with 15 minutes remaining into a 52-50 Scots lead by the 10:47 mark.
Wilbar scored 7 points during that run and Patterson, Green and Simmons added two apiece, with Wilbar and Simmons combining for six rebounds to spark the comeback. Sewanee never drew level again.
"They just gave great energy and had a disposition about them that recognized we were not playing well, and it was up to them to fix it," Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said. "And they did, and their energy was contagious. It rubbed off on the rest of the team.
"I'm really proud of everyone from that second unit who contributed."
Tough Shooting Night – But it's a Win!
Maryville's field goal percentage of 32.8 (22-of-67) was the lowest since the Scots shot 32.3 percent (20-of-62) in a 78-53 home loss to Piedmont back in February 2020.
"When the ball's not falling, can you still rely on your defense," Placeres said. "Tonight, we got critical stops and we dominated the boards down the stretch. We played really well defensively, and we can still improve.
"We were just a little unlucky around the rim and just not finishing."
Morgan was finishing just fine at the free throw line, continuing a trend of the early going. He's already 22-of-27 at the stripe for 81.5 percent. The Lenoir City native shot 74.6 percent a year ago on his way to Collegiate Conference of the South Sixth Man honors.
"The change in the charge rule has helped me get to the line more often," Morgan said. "They have to play off me and I can just back them down. We did a good job in the second half of stopping their shooters and not letting them roam free. And on offense, we just needed to be patient and the shots would fall."
After Maryville's Super Subs turned the game around, the Scots kept things rolling. Daryl Rice stole an in-bounds pass and fed Jose Rodriguez for a layup that made it 60-52 Scots, extending the earlier run to 21-6. Sewanee had a five-point trip but then Morgan answered twice, and the lead was 64-57 with 6:25 remaining.
One Last Cold Spell
In front 66-58, Maryville came up empty on five straight possession and the lead narrowed to 68-64 with 2:31 left. Sewanee trimmed it to 67-66 and 68-67, but then Rodriguez sank a pair of free throws and Rice did the same, followed by the defense getting stops at the other end, Morgan's big block included.
The Tigers swished a late three and had a miracle attempt at the buzzer, but it didn't go and the Scots were in the win column. This was Maryville's sixth consecutive victory against their Division III in-state rivals.
Both teams are now 1-2.
In addition to Morgan, Wilbar scored a dozen and Simmons was the top rebounder with eight. Rice handed out four assists and made three steals.
"The message today was Past, Present, Future," Placeres said. "Past, we learned from what we did this past weekend against two NCAA tournament teams. Present, guess what? We played another NCAA tournament team tonight, on the road. Winning in college basketball is hard; doubly hard on the road. But we found a way.
"And now we get ready for a trip to St. Louis and a chance to build off tonight's win."
Placeres said Morgan is just scratching the surface of the type of ballplayer he can become.
"He's played fewer than 30 college games, so he's only going to get better," Placeres said. "He needs to continue to work on his game because he can shoot it, he can score it, and tonight I'm most proud that he had an unbelievable block down the stretch.
"We play this schedule on purpose because we want to compete against the best teams, on the road. It only makes us better."
Maryville is on the court again Saturday and Sunday in the Webster Classic in St. Louis. The Scots take on Westminster (0-3) on Saturday at 6 p.m. Central, and then the host Gorlocks (0-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. Central. Webster is coached by former Maryville assistant Chris Bunch.
Coach Byrd
Belmont legend and former Scots head coach Rick Byrd was in attendance Wednesday night. Byrd told Placeres it was his first in-person Maryville game since he coached the Scots from 1976-80. Byrd served as a Maryville assistant from 1976-78 and then head coach from 1978-80 before moving to an assistant's role at Tennessee Tech and then getting the head coaching job at Lincoln Memorial. He was the Belmont head coach from 1986 to 2019, finishing with more than 800 wins.