MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Donta Hoppa and Calvin Songster finished with a team high 14 points as the Maryville men's basketball team avenged a setback to Brevard with an 80-69 victory on Wednesday evening.
Hoppa was 5-of-9 from the floor, knocking down both 3-point attempts, as he led all Maryville starters in double figures. Songster came off the bench and knocked down 5-of-8 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc, while dishing out four assists in 26 minutes of play.
Brevard countered with a trio of double figure scorers including JaMarquis Johnson (15 points), Levi Lamb (15) and Cannon Lamb (10). Brevard converted 25-of-52 (48.1%) from the field in the game and was successful on 13-of-24 (54.2%) from 3-point range. The 13 treys are two off the season high for the Tornados, which came when they hit 15 two games ago against Pfeiffer.
The Tornados opened the second half in similar fashion to the first, using a layup by Johnson and a 3-pointer by Qadhafi Turner to slice the Maryville lead to six, 45-39, in under two minutes. Hoppa responded to the challenge with seven points, including a 3-pointer, to extend the lead back to double figures.
Buckets by Cannon Lamb and Levi Lamb, along with solid defensive pressure, helped the Tornados again move the deficit into single digits. However, four points by Malcolm Walker and two each from Emanuelle Garcia and Emier Bowman resulted in a 68-49 Maryville lead.
Treys by Garcia and Songster resulted in 22-point leads for the Scots, but Brevard capitalized on a series of 3-pointers by senior Stevie Williams to make for a 76-62 contest. Cannon Lamb finished with four and Eric Evans knocked down a 3-pointer down the stretch to make for the 11-point difference.
Johnson scored seven of Brevard's first 10 points of the game as the two teams reached a 10-all deadlock in less than four minutes of action. After a Cannon Lamb layup gave Brevard a two-point lead, Songster and Bowman accounted for the next five points to forge Maryville in front.
The tandem of Johnson and Turner pushed the Tornados back in front, 19-17, as the two teams traded the lead at the 12:09 mark. Jakob Bergen connected on two 3-pointers and Levi Lamb added a long distance shot as Brevard scored nine of the next 16 points to assume a 28-24 lead.
Maryville quickly bounced back with a 9-0 run of its own, highlighted by an Garcia 3-pointer, as it assumed a 33-28 advantage with 6:22 remaining. A jumper by Johnson was not enough to rattle the Scots, who added four points in the paint and a series of 3-pointers from Hoppa and Songster to close out the half with a 45-35 advantage.
The Brevard men's basketball team hosts its Senior Day on Friday, Feb. 9, when it hosts Averett at 7:30 p.m. at Boshamer Gym.
