LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Jon DeVries recorded his first double-double of his career with 10 points and 13 rebounds, but the Covenant Scots were defeated by the Millsaps College Majors 52-49 on Thursday night. Covenant falls to 4-5 on the year and Millsaps improves to 5-2.
Covenant raced out to a quick nine point edge in the first half after a pair of free-throws by Joey Danek made it 18-9 with 11:30 remaining in the half. Despite only scoring four more points the rest of the half, the Scots held onto the lead until a basket by the Majors' Sterling Thomas in the final moments gave Millsaps a 24-22 advantage at halftime.
In the second half, Millsaps led for the majority of the 20 minutes. The Majors took their largest lead of the game at 50-42 when Nick Cortese converted a conventional three-point play. But Covenant would not go away quietly as DeVries scored baskets on back-to-back possessions to cut the Majors lead to 50-46 with two minutes left. After Kyle Kinnear made it 52-46 with a jumper of his own, Covenant's leading scorer in Callum Sears drove the lane and drew a foul while finishing a layup. Sears made the following free-throw to make it a 52-49 game with just over a minute left.
Excellent Covenant defense on the Majors' next possession forced a bad shot, but Ryan Berger came up with the offensive rebound for Millsaps allowing them to take precious seconds off the clock. Again, the Scots were up to the task as they forced a Millsaps turnover with 19 seconds remaining. With three fouls left to give before the bonus, Millsaps began fouling Covenant to take more time off the clock and force the Scots into a desperation attempt. With five seconds left, DeVries had to force up a contested 3-point shot that was errant and the Scots could not get another shot attempt.
"I'm proud of how our guys did not quit and battled right up to the end," said Scots head coach Kyle Taylor. "We got several stops and eventually cut the lead to 52-49. We got the stop we wanted, but couldn't pick up the loose ball rebound in a scramble situation."
Kinnear led all scorers with 13 points on 6-for-10 shooting for Millsaps. Taylor Meades added nine points while Thomas and Cortese each chipped in with eight.
DeVries was the lone Covenant player in double figures with 10 points. Sears had nine points and Danek tallied six points and six rebounds. Zarome Lakey led Covenant with five assists and collected five rebounds. The Scots outrebounded the Majors 43-23, and 14-4 on the offensive glass.
"I'm really proud of how aggressively Jon DeVries, Joey Danek, Callum Sears, and Zarome Lakey attacked the ball and went hard after rebounds," continued Taylor.
Covenant will return to action on Dec. 19 when they host Greensboro College at Barnes Physical Education Center. Tip-off is set for the afternoon at 2 p.m.
