MARYVILLE, Tenn. - LaGrange took down Maryville 65-62 in the USA South Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday night. The Panthers (16-10) advanced to the conference tournament semifinals for the first time since 2017.
LC will face Averett, the number one seed from the East Division, on Friday at 5 p.m. at Covenant College. Covenant will face N.C. Wesleyan in the other semifinal. The winners meet Saturday at 6 p.m. in the championship game.
"This team is so tough and they play so well together," Coach Kendal Wallace said. "They play unselfish basketball. They do almost all the little things it takes to win games. I'm so proud of all these guys. We have been in hostile environment after hostile environment and they find a way to win. We were happy to win in such a tough place to play. We get back to work tomorrow and will focus on going 1-0 on Friday versus Averett. Love this team!"
The Panthers beat Maryville (20-4) on its home court for the second time this season and for the fourth straight time. After starting the season 0-6 on the road against a demanding schedule, the Panthers have won seven straight away from Mariotti Gym.
The senior duo of Bershard Edwards and Kyle Brown combined for 39 points. Edwards led the Panthers with 20 points, while Brown had 19. Gabe Cofield added 10 points and Zac Hill pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
The Scots wiped out a 14-8 Panther lead with an 11-0 run to go up 19-14. The Panthers regained the lead, 22-21, on Brown's basket inside with 8:44 left in the half. LC never trailed again but the game was far from decided. Edwards' jumper gave the Panthers their largest lead of the half, 38-27, with two minutes remaining.
The Panthers built a 16-point lead seven minutes into the second half. Cofield made a steal at the defensive end and Brown converted the turnover into points to make it 50-34.
Maryville came back to tie the game at 60 on Myles Resnick's layup with 3:04 remaining. Hill made a pair of free throws to put LC up 62-60, but Resnick answered for the Scots to tie the game for the last time. Brown's layup put the Panthers ahead to stay, 64-62, with 1:28 left. The Panthers forced turnovers on the Scots next two possessions and Edwards' free throw made it 65-62 with nine seconds left. Rasnick's 3-point attempt at the buzzer was off the mark.
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