Saint Joseph's boxscore in PDF
 

By Jim Powers

Maryville raced out to a fast start in the first half only to see Saint Joseph's College mount a comeback in the second stanza to defeat the Saints 71-66 at Scharf Fieldhouse in Rensselaer, Ind.

The Saints and the Pumas matched each other shot for shot over the first five minutes of the game until Maryville grabbed control of the half with Trae Pemberton knocking down a trey from the left wing to climax a 10-2 run and give the Saints an 18-10 lead with 13:31 remaining in the half. Pemberton's first points in the early going were enough for him to eclipse the 1,000-point barrier and become the 16th player in Maryville school history to join the elite scorer's list. The Saints would extend the lead to twelve points with just over eight minutes remaining before Saint Joseph's would then put together an 11-2 run over the next five minutes and 59 seconds to cut the Maryville lead to 26-23 with 2:16 left in the half. Derek Deters would nail a long-range jumper at the end of the half to give Saints a 31-25 lead at the break.

Deters would then come out of the halftime locker room and drill another triple to extend the lead to 34-25 just 28 seconds into the half, but then the Pumas would start to mount their comeback. The home team would use a balanced attack using both the outside jumper and inside play to draw even with Maryville at 51-51 with 9:04 remaining in the fray. The game would again go back and forth over the next five minutes and 38 seconds until Nathan Tidwell hit a free throw to give the Pumas a 64-63 advantage with 3:26 remaining, and they would hold on for the win.

Pemberton ended the night with 14 points while Forrester Sims and Deters both finished with 11 markers each as the Saints fell to 10-11 on the season and 5-7 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. Cameron Vines led four Pumas in double figures with 15 points with Tidwell chipping in with 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds as the Pumas improved to 6-16 on the year and 3-9 in the GLVC.

Maryville completes its four-game road trip on Saturday afternoon as they travel to take on the ninth-ranked team in the country, University of Indianapolis. Game time is set for 3 p.m. (ET).