Johnson Trey Ices Maryville, 79-78

Johnson Trey Ices Maryville, 79-78

BREVARD, N.C. – With the clock winding down and Maryville holding on to a two-point lead, sophomore JaMarquis Johnson drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing with 3.9 seconds remaining to give Brevard the 79-78 win over the Scots in men's basketball action on Thursday night.

In a back-and-forth game throughout the night, the two teams endured nine ties and six lead changes in the final 6:57 of the contest, with the biggest lead for both teams topping at three points.

Trailing by two points following a Calvin Songster jumper, senior Stevie Williams completed the old-fashioned 3-point play on a layup and a free throw following a foul called on Colt Nokes.

Songster converted two free throws of his own on the other end of the floor after a foul on Williams to give the Scots the one-point lead.

Maryville came to life on their next offensive possession, following a miss from Levi Lamb, as Emier Bowman drove down the baseline for an emphatic slam dunk to increase the Scots' lead to three points with 52 seconds remaining.

After a 30-second timeout called by Maryville coach Randy Lambert, Brevard was able to convert on two more free throws from Levi Lamb to cut the lead to one point with 41 seconds left.

On the next possession for the Scots, Kaleb Estes went to the foul line following a foul against Qadhafi Turner. Estes missed the first attempt but was able to drain the second free throw to give Maryville the 78-76 lead with 18 seconds remaining.

During a timeout by Brevard head coach Lee Burgess, he designed the play for Johnson to attempt the game-winning shot. The play came to fruition when Levi Lamb found the open Johnson to bury the 3-pointer with under four seconds to go. The Scots were unable to get a shot off in the waning seconds, as the Tornados secured the victory.

Williams played clutch down the stretch, as the senior scored eight of his 16 total points in the final seven minutes of the game, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the foul line and 2-of-2 from the floor. Teammate Levi Lamb also added six points in that same span.

Brevard used their sharp-shooting ability throughout the game, hitting 47% from the floor, controlled the points in the paint with a 34-25 advantage, and recorded five blocks defensively.

The Tornados tough defense resulted in Maryville being limited to 40% from the floor in both halves, as they finished 23-of-57 (40.4%) on the evening.

Johnson and Williams each recorded a game-high 16 points, combining for 10-of-19 from the floor, 9-of-12 from the charity stripe, while adding three 3-pointers.

On the Maryville bench, Emanuelle Garcia led the Scots in scoring with 14 points, hitting 5-of-11 from the floor, including four 3-pointers.

The Tornados opened the first half strong, knocking down 13-of-28 (46.4%) from the floor to hold a two-point advantage (34-32) at the intermission. Levi Lamb led all Brevard scorers with seven points, while Williams, Johnson and Cannon Lamb added six points apiece.

Lamb finished 2-of-4 from the field, hitting one of Brevard's four 3-pointers, to go along with two blocks.

Brevard established its offense early, scoring the first eight unanswered as it built a 10-2 advantage at the 15:11 mark. Parris and Cannon Lamb tallied four points each during the stretch while the Brevard defense took advantage of a steal by Levi Lamb.

Maryville rebounded from the difficult start by putting together an 11-1 run, converting two 3-pointers in the process, to assume a 13-11 lead at the 12:47 mark. A timely trey from Johnson got the Tornado offense back on track as Brevard used scores by Williams, Turner and Levi Lamb to assume a 23-17 advantage.

Jacob Bergen drained a 3-pointer at the top of the key, following a pass from Williams, to push the Tornado lead to nine with 7:51. A brief Maryville run trimmed the deficit to five, but the trio of Williams, Cannon Lamb and Levi Lamb accounted for the next five Tornado points as Brevard built its largest lead of the half, 31-21.

The Scots closed out the final 4:17 of the half on an 11-2 run, taking advantage of four points by Summers and a 3-pointer off the hand of Garcia, as they pulled within at the intermission.

The Tornados return to the court this weekend when they host William Peace (Jan. 20) and N.C. Wesleyan (Jan. 21).