LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant men's basketball team got back to .500 on the season with a narrow 50-47 win over the visiting Sewanee Tigers on Tuesday night. Covenant moves to 3-3 on the year and the Scots have now won back-to-back games. Sewanee drops to 3-2 as they have lost two straight.
Covenant gained a 48-45 lead on a Colton McGriff layup with 2:43 left in the contest. Sewanee was able to cut its deficit to one at 48-47 after Valentino Bryant's layup with just over a minute remaining in the game.
After a Covenant turnover with 24 seconds left, Sewanee had a chance to take the lead. But Lewis Affronti missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key and Sam Bowman collected the rebound for Covenant. McGriff would knock down a pair of free-throws to give Covenant a 50-47 lead with less than 10 seconds left.
Bryant drove the ball up the court for Sewanee and passed to Brett Bouldin who took a 3-point attempt for the tie, but the ball hit the back of the iron and McGriff grabbed the rebound to secure the victory for the Scots.
No player scored in double digits for Covenant, but McGriff led the Scots with eight points to go along with four rebounds. T.J. Cox, Callum Sears, and Jon DeVries each had seven points. DeVries pulled down a game-high six rebounds.
Sewanee was led by Bouldin's 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Keshonn Carter had eight points and five rebounds, with Bryant scoring five points and handing out three assists.
Covenant held a 27-21 advantage at halftime. The Scots took a 10-8 lead on a Sears jumper at the 14:25 mark of the half and they would lead for the rest of the period.
Sewanee scored the first eight points of the second half as they took a 29-27 lead after Tyler Brown converted a three-point play. The Tigers led 39-34 before Covenant came back on a 10-0 scoring run that ended with a Jon DeVries free-throw with 5:43 left. Sears, McGriff, Jake Delaney, and Cox all had baskets during that stretch.
The two teams combined to turn the ball over 41 times. Covenant connected on 42 percent (21-50) from the field, but had 11 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds. Sewanee was limited to 40.5 percent (17-42) shooting. Covenant had a slight 30-29 edge in rebounding.
Covenant will hit the road this weekend as the Scots travel to Michigan for the Hope College, Holland Sentinel Classic. Covenant plays host Hope, a preseason D3Hoops.com Top 25 team, at 8 p.m. on Friday before taking on either Spring Arbor or Grace Bible on Saturday at 1 p.m.
