By KEVIN ECKLEBERRY

Daily News

MARYVILLE, Tenn. – It wasn’t their night.

Needing a win to keep their season alive, the LaGrange College Panthers lost to the home-standing Maryville Scots 91-77 in the opening round of the USA South men’s basketball tournament.

The Panthers (17-9) were within a point at the half, but they were outscored 49-36 in the second half.

Lincoln Anderson, a sophomore from LaGrange Academy, got the start for the Panthers, and he was terrific.

Anderson was 6-of-6 from the field on the way to a 15-point night, and he tied for team-high honors in rebounds with seven.

Travis Thompson led the Panthers with 21 points, and he also had seven rebounds.

Jamison McCray added 10 points, and Julian Cameron scored nine points.

Emier Bowman led the Scots with 26 points.

After falling behind by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Panthers got within six on an Anderson basket with 11 minutes to play.

The Panthers continued to hang around, and they were still within six with a little more than six minutes to play.

Every time the Panthers seemed to be ready to seize some momentum, though, the Scots had an answer, and they pulled away in the final minutes to win comfortably.

BASEBALL: LaGrange College had a 5-0 lead after two innings, but Berry College rallied for a 9-7 win.

Judd Moore had two hits and three RBIs for the Panthers, and Joe Ruth and Jack Layrisson each had a hit and an RBI.

Liam Carbone had a hit, two walks, and two runs scored. Cale Chatham walked three times and scored two runs.