LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Saturday afternoon saw seven Covenant men's basketball seniors bid farewell in front of a huge crowd inside Barnes Physical Education Center.
The Scots made sure that the seniors made their final home game a memorable one.
Covenant's Colton McGriff made two free-throws with 15.7 seconds left that lifted the home Scots to a 56-52 victory over visiting Huntingdon.
With the win, Covenant moves to 13-10 on the season and guarantees a winning regular season record, something that has not been accomplished in quite some time. Huntingdon drops to 6-16 overall.
Before the game, all seven seniors (Rosbie Mutcherson, Callum Sears, Damien Chaney, Jon DeVries, Joey Danek, Sam Bowman, and assistant coach Peter Wilkerson) were all honored.
On the court, the seniors combined for 35 points, led by 16 points from Bowman. Bowman also added 10 rebounds for the double-double. Mutcherson had seven points, while Sears chipped in six. DeVries had a team-high four assists to go along with nine rebounds.
McGriff tallied 13 points and five rebounds off the bench for Covenant.
A physical first half saw Covenant gain a small advantage early and the Scots held on to that lead going into the break up 26-21.
Covenant would lead by nine points at 41-32 after a Nate Frierson 3-pointer with 12:12 left in the game. Huntingdon made its comeback as they knotted the score at 48 apiece on a Ryan Petty 3-ball at the 2:25 mark.
Sears gave the lead back to Covenant on its next possession with a driving layup, but four consecutive made free-throws for Huntingdon gave the Hawks a 52-50 lead with 1:12 remaining.
But the veteran Covenant team answered back. DeVries made a tough layup with just under a minute left to tie the score once again at 52. The Scots then drew a charge on Huntingdon to get the ball back. McGriff was then fouled near the hoop and the sophomore calmly knocked down both free-throws to give the Scots a 54-52 lead.
Huntingdon had a chance to tie the score, but Bowman denied a Petty layup with a block and then made two free-throws to secure the victory and send the large crowd into a standing ovation for Covenant and its seniors.
Petty led Huntingdon with 13 points and five steals. Austin Hill added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Hawks.
Covenant outrebounded the Hawks 49-30 and had 15 second-chance points. The Scots connected on just 33.3 percent of their shots, while Huntingdon made 40.9 percent.
Covenant returns to action on Tuesday on the road at Emory in Atlanta. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
