Scots Handle Owls 87-71; Garner Tallies Career-High 26 Points

SWANNANOA, N.C. – Maryville wrapped up its pre-Christmas schedule with a tidy 87-71 victory at Warren Wilson on Wednesday night. It was the second Scots road win in three days.
 
Jackson Garner led the way with a career-high 26 points. The junior guard was 8-of-13 from the floor, including 6-of-9 from 3-point distance, and a perfect 4-of-4 at the line. The six 3-pointers were one shy of Garner's collegiate best of seven against Greensboro back during his rookie campaign.
 
Garner has exploded to a 16.9 scoring average, six points clear of his previous season high of 10.9 set last year. Maryville head coach Raul Placeres said it was clear that the Clinton guard was due to break out.
 
"I'm just really proud of the young man he is, how good of a teammate he is, and most importantly how hard he worked over the summer," Placeres said. "He's one of the guys whose game was going to accelerate because of how hard he had worked from the moment last season ended until we got back on campus in August.
 
"He bought into the weight room and you can see it in his game."
 
Another place Garner shows up is on Maryville's career 3-pointers chart. He's now 15th all-time with 145. Next on the list at No. 14 is Spencer Beatty (1995-99) with 152.
 
Chasing a Double-Double (Again)
Chase Morgan is also flying high this week after posting his second double-double in three nights with 24 points and 11 boards. Over the two road games, Morgan averaged 23 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
"Hopefully, Chase can continue to elevate his game," Placeres said. "Why are we seeing more from him? The time he put into summer conditioning. He's in better shape than the guys trying to guard him.
 
"Both he and Jackson have so much more room for improvement, and that's what makes me happy as a coach."
 
Garner swished four 3-pointers and scored 18 points in the first half, leading Maryville to a 40-34 edge at intermission. Morgan was the team's top scorer in the second half with 13 points, followed by Reed Kemp with all 11 of his points.
 
After Warren Wilson closed within 45-41 early in the second half, Maryville responded with its best ball of the night. The Scots scored 11 straight points to lead 56-41 on Morgan's layup with 14:35 remaining. The lead reached as high as 70-50 on Morgan's 3-pointer at the 9:15 mark, and Maryville coasted from there.
 
The Lenoir City big man now has a 3-pointer in six of Maryville's 10 games thus far. He stands 8-of-24 from long range, or two-thirds of the way to his previous season high of 12 treys out of 31 attempts a year ago.
 
Javi Rosell contributed three assists and a career-high four steals, while Kyle Cloninger continues to impact the box score. The Morristown rookie scored seven points, grabbed three rebounds, assisted on four buckets and made two steals. Malachi Chipp swished his first 3-pointer of the season and Collin Smith deposited his first dunk of the campaign on his birthday.
 
22-0 When Meeting Coach P's Goals
Maryville teams under Placeres are now 22-0 for his career when shooting at least 45 percent from the floor, 35 percent from three and 70 percent at the line. Tonight's numbers were 50.8 percent from the floor, 11-of-25 from 3-point for 44.0 percent, and 12-of-15 at the line for 80.0 percent.
 
"Did we play our best? No," Placeres said. "Is there room for improvement? Yes. But this is a tough place to play, and we have traveled a lot this first half, especially this week. Going all the way to Lexington, Virginia, on Monday and back over here two days later – it caught up to our energy level and our legs.
 
"Coach Jeff McCord tells me we have traveled 3,154 miles over these first 10 games, seven of which have been away from home. Any time you can win on the road, you enjoy it. I'm starting to have a little bit of perspective. November and December are about getting to know yourselves and who you are as a team."
 
Maryville climbs to 6-4 overall, with a 2-1 home record and a 4-3 combo mark on the road and in neutral-site games. Warren Wilson dropped to 0-9 this season and 1-17 all-time against the Scots.
 
MC is idle until heading to Roanoke for the Cregger Invitational on Dec. 29-30 (Sunday-Monday).