Maryville Wins USA South Men's Basketball Championship - Mar 2, 2018

The 2018 USA South Men's Basketball Tournament championship game took place on Saturday, February 24 on the campus of Maryville College in Maryville, Tennessee as West top-seeded Maryville defeated West third-seeded Covenant College, 96-77, to capture the program's first USA South Tournament title.
In the first half, Maryville jumped out to a 16-point lead just over five minutes in only to see that margin cut down to six points over the final 14 minutes of the first stanza by Covenant, resulting in a 49-43 lead for Maryville heading into the break. Covenant reduced the deficit to a two possession game during the first two minutes of the second half before Maryville went on an 8-0 run over the next four minutes. Covenant answered by cutting the lead to eight points with under seven minutes remaining but Maryville promptly retaliated with a 13-0 run to put the game away.
Maryville was led by Dante Hoppa (6'5''-F) who scored a game-high 19 points with five assists, three rebounds, two assists and one steal. For his efforts during the tournament, Hoppa was named the Most Valuable Player. Additionally, Emier Bowman (6'3''-F) contributed 18 points, seven rebounds, four steals and one assist for Maryville. Covenant was led by Caleb Haynes (6'5''-F) who scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

USA South Tournament Final: Maryville - Covenant 96-77
USA South Tournament Semifinals:
Maryville - Methodist 70-66
Covenant - N.C. Wesleyan 81-80

Courtesy of USA South