East Central boxscore in PDF

Normandy, Mo. - In the final game of the Marriott Airport Classic, the Maryville men's basketball team was unable to overcome a hot-shooting start by East Central and dropped an 82-68 decision Saturday evening. The tournament was hosted by the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The Saints were down 12-6 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Anthony Johnson and Evan Booker tied the game at 12-all. Karson King hit one free throw to give the Saints a 13-12 lead. Grant Sims sank a jumper to push Maryville ahead 15-13 five minutes in until ECU scored nine straight points to surge ahead. Damyan Stoyanov converted a jumper to bring the Saints to 22-17 but the Tigers began to heat up from beyond the arc and kept knocking down shots from deep. East Central used a 9-0 burst to stretch out its lead to 32-19. Sukhman Bhinder scored to end the drought for the Saints. ECU eventually went into halftime with a 50-30 lead after shooting 68 percent from the field, including 7-of-11 from 3-point range. 

The Saints jumped out to a quick start after intermission by scoring the first eight points. Grant Sims drilled a 3-pointer, and Johnson scored on a three-point play. Forrester Sims converted a layup to bring the Saints to 50-38. The Saints stayed within range and cut their deficit to single digits at the 12:11 mark on a Grant Sims triple to pull to 58-49. Forrester Sims scored inside as Maryville inched closer at 62-54. East Central went on an 8-1 run and rebuilt a 70-55 edge. The Saints cut the lead to 76-66 at the 2:30 mark after Nick Miller converted two free throws but were unable to get within single digits.

Grant Sims paced the Saints with 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Johnson added 13 points and five rebounds. King topped Maryville (2-6) with seven rebounds. The Saints shot 48.2 percent from the field. East Central (2-4) shot 53.8 percent from the field (28-of-52) and from 3-point range (7-of-13).

The Saints are next in action Thursday, Dec. 3, when they open Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a contest at Missouri S&T.