By Harry Davis
Staff Writer
Photos by Matt Hembree
On Tuesday, December 6, the Sewanee men’s basketball team took on the Maryville College Scots at home and were defeated 83-70 in overtime.
Recently, Tigers were on a tear, finishing the Lon Varnell Classic with a win against Johnson University 102-86. Success continued for the Tigers as they won with a last second three-pointer made by Jorden Williams (C’17) against Piedmont College, closing out the game by a score of 52-51. Sewanee finished their homestand against Covenant College with another close win as Leo Born (C’17) hit a jumper with two seconds to play to win 62-60. Sitting at 4-1 after a four-game home win streak, Sewanee lost 71-63 to Centre College.
Next up for the Tigers were the Maryville College Scots: a team with a record of 5-1, averaging just shy of 80 points per game. The game began with a fast and physical pace, as the teams swapped leads for much of the first portion of the game, before Maryville went on a 7-0 run capitalized by a dunk. The Tigers would then come back to lead 34-26 at halftime after a late 11-0 run. Sewanee dominated Maryville in shooting percentage, with a 60.9 percent to 34.5 percent edge.
In the second half, the game seemed to open up for both teams however senior guard Williams gets into foul trouble early on. Having already accumulated one foul in the first half, Williams fouled twice early in the second half; Coach Pierson decided to be conservative and sub him out. The Tigers continued to put pressure on the Scots, expanding their lead to 48-37 before Williams returned nearly midway through the second half.
With under four minutes to play, Sewanee lead 62-50. However, Maryland was not finished yet, forcing two quick turnovers with a full court press and cutting the Tigers’ lead to 7. The Tigers pushed back with brothers Leo Born and Clay Born (C’17) scoring four quick points to push the lead to 67-60 with just over a minute to go. The Scots then scored seven straight points to push the game to overtime.
In overtime, the game was tight early on, with only four points made in the first minute and a half of overtime. However, the Scots shot nearly flawlessly: 3-3 from the field and 9-10 from the free throw line as they closed out the game in the overtime frame with a score of 16-3. After the game, senior Brody Stone (C’19) acknowledged the defeat explaining that “We’ve just got to play better. Seniors need to step up and make plays late in the game and when we have a lead we need to take care of it.”
Sewanee will continue their play at the Holiday Inn Express and Suites Classic in Atlanta, Georgia where they will play Stevenson University on Thursday, December 29, and Methodist University on Friday, December 30.