LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Maryville dispatched Covenant on Tuesday night 107-86 to clear the deck for the Game of the Year.
The Scots improved to 19-5 overall and 10-1 in the Collegiate Conference of the South. They travel Friday to Belhaven for another crack at the first-place Blazers, who are one game ahead of Maryville at 11-0. The Blazers have won 16 straight, including a 91-83 decision over the Scots back on Jan. 25 in Cooper.
Their last loss was Dec. 6 in Spokane, Washington, to then-No. 20 Whitworth 66-64. They went 4-2 in November. Since the Northwest trip, it has been nothing but Ws for a 21-3 overall record.
Friday's game to end the season was supposed to start the conference campaign on Jan. 11, but winter weather got in the way. Now, it is a fitting climax to another thrilling CCS schedule.
Maryville has swept the league's first two regular-season and tournament titles. But the Season 3 tournament crown holds even more meaning because it automatically sends the winner to the NCAA Tournament. That was not the case the first two years as the CCS served the mandatory two-year waiting period for a new conference.
"Tonight at Covenant put us in position now to play in a huge game," Scots head coach Raul Placeres said. "It's the culmination of the regular season where we are playing for our fifth consecutive regular season championship, and that is no easy feat when you are picked to win the league every single year.
"And we have our work cut out for us. We are facing a team in Belhaven that is playing exceptional basketball, that beat us at our place, and that is on a 16-game winning streak."
Most Assists Since 2013
Maryville used Tuesday's game at Covenant as the final dress rehearsal. The Scots scored a season-high 107 points and handed out 32 assists – their most since 2013. The point total was the most since a 112-61 triumph last season at Warren Wilson.
The Scots started like a team possessed, racing to a 21-6 lead with 15:18 on the first-half clock by making their first eight shots, their first two 3-pointers and their first three free throws.
"Good mature teams know how to manage their business on the road and don't look ahead," said Placeres, who improved to 98-41 as the Scots head coach. "We needed a good start because it was their Senior Night, and we did an excellent job of finding the open man and multiple guys scoring.
"Four of our five starters scored in that opening run."
After breezing to a 49-28 halftime lead, Maryville shot 67.6 percent (25-of-37) in the second half and matched Covenant basket for basket in a 58-58 scoring draw. For the game, Maryville finished at 54.4 percent (43-of-79) from the field, missing its season high by one field goal.
Kemp Keeps Rising in Rankings
Reed Kemp scored a season-high 36 points on 14-of-20 shooting and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc. He added 3-of-4 at the line and matched his season high with five assists.
Kemp upped his season scoring total to 602 points, just 43 shy of the Maryville record set by Dan McKinstry in 1971-72. It was his third game in a row with more than 30 points and his sixth this season. During his three-game heater, Kemp has scored exactly 100 points (33.3 per game) on 56.9 percent shooting and is 14-of-23 (60.9 percent) from 3-point distance.
He entered Tuesday's play fourth nationally in scoring at 24.6 (now 25.1), sixth in 3-point percentage at 47.5 (now 48.8) and 13th in 3-pointers made per game at 3.26 (now 3.33). His 80 3-pointers made a tie for the fifth-most in a Maryville season.
Morgan Four Points Away
Chase Morgan scored 27 points to up his career total to 996, putting him on the precipice of joining Kemp in the Maryville Men's Basketball 1,000-Point Club. The Lenior City junior was 11-of-15 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the line.
His season scoring average is up to 16.8 and his rebounding average stands at 7.2 – both career highs. He is shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and 73.2 percent from the line and has 57 assists to just 46 turnovers for his first season on the plus side of that statistic. For his career, it is 114 to 115. Not bad.
Rosell on a Roll
Maryville's third double-figure scorer was Javi Rosell, who posted his first collegiate double-double with 12 points and 13 assists. The assist total is a career high and the most by a Scot since J.R. Sanders handed out 13 at Huntingdon on February 5, 2022.
Rosell is averaging the best numbers of his career at 5.1 points and 4.2 assists. Over his last eight games, the Miami sophomore has averaged 8.5 points and 5.8 assists.
"I am proud of him," Placeres said. "He played an exceptional floor game tonight and he has had a fantastic second half of the season."
First-year guards Kyle Cloninger and Jamal Ware were the Maryville rebounding leaders with eight apiece. Cloninger added seven points, five assists and four steals.
"I know I keep repeating myself, but I enjoy when all the guys can play in the game because they all work hard," Placeres said. "I'm glad everybody got in and everybody got to contribute."
Maryville won its sixth in a row over Covenant, improving the all-time series record to 34-9.
Friday's game at Belhaven tips at 6:30 p.m. Central time.