Covenant Athletic Weekly Recap: Week 19 (Jan. 23-28)

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- This week held exciting games for the men’s and women’s basketball teams. On Wednesday, Covenant had a double header versus Piedmont College. On Friday, the men lost a nail biter against Rust College. The Scots’ record goes to 5-14 and 1-3 in the conference. The Lady Scots move to 5-12 and 4-5 in conference play.

The Lady Scots played a crazy game against Piedmont, one that had a total of 48 turnovers, but Piedmont (14-3, 6-2 GSAC) broke away in the first half and won 63-44. In the first half, Piedmont went on a 15-0 scoring run that gave them a 31-20 lead with under four minutes left in the half. Even though the Lady Scots did well during the second half, they were not able to recover from that. Margaret Cross led the scoring for Covenant with 15 points. Jessie Blankenship had 11 points and seven rebounds as well. Piedmont’s Sada Wheeler helped in her team’s success with a double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Scots were supposed to host GSAC foe Salem College on Saturday, but the game was canceled. At this time, it is unclear when or if the game will be made up.

On the men’s side, Bryant Engbers paved the way for the Scots to end their 12-game losing streak with a 91-78 win over Piedmont. Engbers scored 24 points in the first half and gave Covenant a lead they would never relinquish with a 3-pointer at the 7:27 mark in the first half. Though Piedmont came within five points of Covenant, they would not get closer than that. Engbers scored a total of 26 points and had seven rebounds. Callum Sears and Rosbie Mutcherson scored 15 points and 12 points, respectively.

The win on Wednesday provided some momentum for Covenant as they hosted Rust College on Friday night. The Bearcats, though, were able to stop a couple of runs from Covenant and came up with a 90-81 win. Sears and TJ Cox both scored 14 points each during the game. Jon DeVries came up with another 12 points and five rebounds. Rust’s leading scorer was Markeith Wilson with 26 points. Covenant trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half, but cut that deficit to just four points midway through the second half. Rust held off the Scots late to seal the win.

This week’s varsity schedule:

Wednesday, February 1
6:00 p.m. - Women’s Basketball vs. Maryville College
8:00 p.m. - Men’s Basketball vs. Maryville College

Saturday, February 4
1:00 p.m. - Women’s Tennis at Tennessee Wesleyan College
1:00 p.m. - Men’s Tennis at Tennessee Wesleyan College
2:00 p.m. - Women’s Basketball at LaGrange College
4:00 p.m. - Men’s Basketball at LaGrange College