February 27, 2010

After missing all four of his field goal attempts and scoring just two points in the first half, Watson caught fire in the second stanza, registering 21 of Maryville's 39 points en route capturing tournament MVP honors. 

Thanks to a balanced scoring attack Maryville led by as many as 11 points in the first half before settling for a  29-23 lead at halftime.  The Panthers scored the first six points of the second half, tying the affair at 29-29, before Maryville responded with a 9-0 run, with Watson scoring seven points, to take a 38-29 lead with 15:08 left.  The spurt enabled the Scots to claim the lead for good, though LaGrange stayed within striking distance until the final moments. After LaGrange's Marcus Vaughn sank a pair of free throws with 7:38 left on the clock to cut Maryville's lead to 44-41, Watson scored seven of the MC's next 11 points in helping extend the lead to 55-46 with 5:09 on the clock.  The Panthers' Nic Whitfield kept LaGrange's hope alive following a three-point play with 1:19 left that trimmed Maryville's edge to 63-58.  However, Watson hit a huge three-point shot on Maryville's next possession that increased the Scots' lead to 66-58 with 53 seconds left.

Whitfield topped the LaGrange scoring effort with 16 points, 14 coming in the second half, and finished by hitting seven-of-12 from the floor.  Other double-figure scorers for LaGrange included Vaughn with  11 points (team high 11 rebounds as well), Blake Craft with 11 points and Joe Cromwell with 10 points.

For the game, Maryville recorded a 46.3 percent mark from the floor (25-of-54) while the Panthers finished at 33.3 percent (20-of-60).  LaGrange did enjoy a 43-35 in the rebounding department, 19-11 on the offensive glass.