LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant men's basketball team suffered a tough home loss to visiting Florida Christian 68-64 on Saturday afternoon inside Barnes Physical Education Center.
The Scots led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but Florida Christian came storming back to claim the victory. In last season's meeting of these two teams, Florida Christian also erased a double digit second half deficit for a comeback victory over the Scots.
Covenant falls to 10-7 on the season, while Florida Christian improves to 14-6 overall. The loss is just the second time Covenant has been defeated at home this season.
The Scots opened up an 11-point lead in the first half after a 16-4 scoring run capped by a Colton McGriff jumper that gave Covenant a 33-22 lead with 4:32 left in the half. The Scots would go ahead 39-24 before settling for a 39-28 halftime lead.
In the second half, Covenant seemed to be in complete control of the contest. McGriff and T.J. Cox each had baskets to start the period to give the Scots a 43-28 lead less than two minutes into the half. Covenant then took its largest lead of the game at 47-30 after a Jon DeVries jumper with 16:29 left.
Covenant continued to support a comfortable lead until the 11 minute mark of the second half. A DeVries layup gave the Scots a 54-39 advantage, but then Florida Christian answered with a 12-0 scoring spurt that ended with a Colton Catto 3-pointer to shrink the Covenant lead to 54-51.
The Suns climbed all the way back and took their first lead of the half on an Alex Sanchez layup with 2:34 left to make it 59-58. Sam Bowman responded with a layup of his own to give the Scots the lead back briefly, but Juwan Braye drained a 3-pointer to give the Suns a 62-60 edge with 2:12 left.
Both teams would trade baskets again as Bowman and DeVries each answered Suns scores. With the game tied at 64 apiece and under a minute left on the clock, Suns guard Nicholas Marshall made a driving layup to put Florida Christian up 66-64. Covenant had a chance to tie or take the lead on its next possession, but the Scots turned the ball over and AJ Williams' fastbreak layup put the game away for the Suns.
DeVries led Covenant with 16 points, going 8-of-9 from the floor, and nine rebounds. Cox and Bowman each had 10 points with Cox handing out six assists. Covenant shot 55.1 percent (27-49) from the field, but only 6-of-14 from the foul line.
Williams had a game-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds for the Suns. Sanchez added 13 points and Montique Lynch contributed six assists. Florida Christian was 25-of-49 from the floor (51 percent), including six 3s, and finished 12-of-17 from the charity stripe.
Covenant is back in action on Tuesday at Sewanee. Tip-off is slated for 9 p.m. EST. The Scots defeated Sewanee 50-47 earlier this season.
