DEMOREST, GA -- After almost two weeks off, mostly because of bad, winter weather, the Covenant Scots were more than ready to hit the hardwood. Covenant took that eagerness to the court Tuesday night and came away with an upset road victory over Great South Athletic Conference member Piedmont College 73-65.
Four Covenant players scored in double figures, led by forward Sam Bowman who recorded his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. The win is Covenant's second in their last 5 games, after getting just a single victory in the first 12 games of the year.
The Scots had to overcome more than just a 13 day layoff, however. Covenant had to fight back from being down by as many as 15 points on two occasions in the first half.
Piedmont came out of the gate fast, scoring 30 points in the first 10 minutes of the game. But the last 10:31 of the half went all the Scots way as they allowed just 3 made field goals from the Lions and forced 5 turnovers. Down 34-19, Covenant began chipping away and started an 18-5 scoring run over the last 7:58 of the first half. Jon DeVries' jumper with just under a minute to play in the half capped off the run and cut the Lions lead to 2 at 39-37. The score would stay that way headed into the break.
In the second half, Covenant gained its first lead since the 17:04 mark of the first half after a Sam Bowman jumper made it 45-44 with 16:41 remaining. A layup by Piedmont's Michael Ross put the Lions up 51-47 and seemed to put momentum back on the Lions side. Covenant would answer, however, with an 11-2 run, giving the Scots a 58-53 advantage. Piedmont would never see the lead again as the Scots would extend their advantage out to 10 after Kacey Chambers connected on two free throws in the final minute of play.
Chambers scored 13 points for the Scots, including going 8-8 from the free-throw line with 4 of those coming in the last minute of the game. Zarome Lakey poured in 12 points while grabbing 6 rebounds, and Callum Sears chipped in with 10 points of his own.
Covenant (3-13) again shot the ball well as they connected on 45.9% (28-61) of their shots as well as going 14-21 from the foul line. Covenant had a slight rebounding edge over the Lions (39-35) while also forcing Piedmont into 18 turnovers, compared to only 14 for the Scots.
Piedmont (7-10) was led by Michael Ross' 16 points. Josh Haymore added 14 points and 4 assists for the Lions.
The Scots will return home for their next game on Saturday against Rust College. Game time is set for 4:00pm.
