Tournament MVP Zack Leahy Leads Tigers To Comeback Win Over Maryville

Sophomore Zack Leahy scored 35 points over the course of two games at the James C. Campbell Classic to earn tournament MVP honors. File Photo/Erin Pence

MARYVILLE, Tenn. — For the second straight week, the Wittenberg Tigers walked off a court with a championship trophy. But after three straight comfortable victories, the Tigers were pushed hard by hot-shooting host Maryville before claiming a 77-70 victory in the final game of the James C. Campbell Memorial Classic.

The win was Wittenberg's eighth in the last nine games and moved the Tigers, who defeated Huntingdon in the opening round, to 9-3 overall on the season, heading into a key North Coast Athletic Conference clash at Ohio Wesleyan on Saturday. It was also Wittenberg's fourth win in seven days, coming on the heels of last week's first-place finish in the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic.

Maryville, which defeated Rust a day earlier, dropped to 8-6.

The Scots shot 61 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, including a blistering 6-of-11 performance from long distance and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. The Tigers fell behind by as many as nine points but kept pace thanks to 20 points in the paint combined with an efficient 4-of-5 from three-point range.

Maryville picked right up early in the second half, pushing a 44-38 halftime advantage back out to 11 points before the Tigers clamped down defensively and finally mounted their comeback. Trailing 60-50, sophomore Zack Leahy (Rossford, Ohio/Rossford) got things started with a three-pointer at the 11:40 mark, sparking a 13-2 run that was capped by a lay-up from senior Michael Cooper (Springfield, Ohio/South) at the 7:31 mark.

From that point, the teams battled back and forth, with the Scots missing the front end of two key one-and-one opportunities to allow the Tigers to maintain a slim lead. Wittenberg made 7-of-10 free throws over the final four minutes and picked up a clutch lay-up out of a timeout by Leahy, who was crowned tournament MVP.

Leahy finished with 18 points to go along with four rebounds and two steals in 24 outstanding minutes off the bench. He was joined on the all-tournament team by senior Alex Brandt (Lewis Center, Ohio/Olentangy), who contributed eight points and six rebounds after hitting for 16 points a day earlier.

Last week's tournament MVP, senior Clayton Black (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster), led both teams with 22 points. He hit 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

Wittenberg shot 68 percent from the field in the first half and finished at 57 percent for the game, while Maryville cooled off in the final 20 minutes to finish at 47 percent for the game. The Scots were led by Christian Ford with 17 points.