LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- Coming off a tough home loss to Methodist on Friday, the Covenant men's basketball team was unable to snap its losing streak as visiting Greensboro placed four players in double figures scoring to capture a 72-66 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The loss is Covenant's third straight overall and inside the friendly confines of Barnes Physical Education Center. The Scots are now 6-8 overall and 1-3 in league play, while Greensboro goes to 4-9 on the year and 1-3 in the USA South.
Colton McGriff led the Scots with 17 points and nine rebounds. Daniel Garrett filled the stat sheet with 13 points, seven rebounds, five steals and two assists. Nate Frierson tallied 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. Micah Turner chipped in nine points, two rebounds and a steal.
Greensboro led throughout the entire first half, but the Scots stayed close as they did not trail by more than seven points in the period. Covenant trailed 32-25 with four minutes left in the half and trimmed that deficit to just two by halftime thanks to a 7-2 run. McGriff had a pair of baskets during the scoring streak and Garrett added a free throw and a layup as Covenant trailed 34-32 at halftime.
The Scots grabbed their first lead of the game at 46-44 with 10:53 remaining in the second half after a quick 6-0 run. Garrett capped the run with an offensive rebound and putback to give Covenant the slim, two-point lead.
But Greensboro would not go away as Damian Dixon scored four straight to give the Pride the lead for good at 51-48 with 8:21 left. Covenant kept within striking distance until the final minutes when Greensboro stretched its lead to 10.
The Pride had four players in double digits scoring led by Dixon's 17 points. Will Griffin had 14 points, while Devan Gregory and Raheem Martin had 11 and 10 points, respectively. Greensboro shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field and 17-of-32 from the foul line.
Covenant outrebounded the Pride by a 44-29 margin, but the Scots turned the ball over 32 times which led to 27 Pride points. Covenant connected on 46.7 percent (28-of-60) from the floor and 9-of-14 from the charity stripe.
Covenant goes on the road for its next contest as they face Sewanee in non-conference action on Tuesday. Tip-time is 9 p.m. EST (8 p.m. CST).
