WHEATON, Ill. -- Covenant had five players score in double figures, but it was not enough to slow down the offensive barrage from Defiance College as the Yellow Jackets beat the Scots 92-77 in the consolation game of the Lee Pfund Classic Saturday evening. Covenant, coming off of a blowout loss to Wheaton College the night before, was led in scoring by Callum Sears and his 23 points. Scots guard Kacey Chambers added 16, Chase Foster poured in 12, while Joey Danek and Damien Chaney each scored 11 in the loss. In fact, Chaney's 2-day performance of 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists helped him earn a spot on the Wheaton Classic All-Tournament team.
The Scots led by as many as five points on two occasions in the first half, with the last one coming at the 5:38 mark after a Danek offensive rebound and put back making it 28-23 in favor of Covenant. Defiance then went on a 14-4 run, aided by Logan Wolfrum's 5 points and 4 assists during the stretch, to end the half and put the Yellow Jackets up 37-32.
Covenant got a three pointer from Sears to start the second half and cut the Yellow Jackets lead to 37-35. Defiance would go on another scoring run as they outscored the Scots 11-2 over the next 3 minutes to build a 48-37 lead. The Yellow Jackets kept the pressure on as they got their lead all the way up to 16 at 73-57 at the 8:30 mark of the second half. Covenant could only get as close as 11 the rest of the game.
Defiance also had five players score 12 or more points. Kyle Tietje led the team in scoring with 18 while Logan Wolfrum recorded a double-double with 17 points and 16 assists. Kevin Tietje also had a double-double on the night with 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, who improve to 1-2.
The Scots shot better in this one than the previous night against Wheaton. Covenant was 23-57 (40.4%) from the field while making a season-high 10 three pointers. The Scots were also superb from the free throw line, shooting 75% (21-28). On the flip side, Covenant allowed Defiance to shoot just over 50% from the field (32-63 for 50.8%), but did force a 5-21 performance from the 3-point line for the Yellow Jackets. Covenant lost the rebounding battle 40-30 as well as committed 3 more turnovers (19) than Defiance (16).
Covenant (0-3) will try and get their first win of the season in their home opener on Tuesday, November 23 against Berry College. Game time is set for 8:00pm at Barnes Gymnasium.
