BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Covenant men's basketball team hit 14 3-pointers and put three players in double-figure scoring, but Samford used a big run late in the first half to pull away for a 98-73 victory over the Scots on Tuesday night inside the Pete Hanna Center.
The game was the first official competition for any Covenant athletics program since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country in March.
An exhibition for the Scots, the game ended up being a regular season contest for Samford (1-1).
Chris Barnette scored 20 points with four assists to lead Covenant, while Luke Touliatos supplied 18 points in his Covenant debut. Will Crumly added 14 points and five rebounds in the loss.
Covenant hung tough with the Division I Bulldogs in the first half. The Scots had a brief, 3-2 lead after a Barnette 3-pointer less than a minute into the game. With 12 minutes left in the half, a Tavian Roundtree steal led to a pair of free throws from Touliatos to even the score at 20 apiece. Two minutes later, the teams traded baskets and 3-pointers from Zack Allen and Crumly helped the Scots tie the game at 28 with 9:48 left.
Samford would outscore the Scots 26-5 the rest of the half and hold Covenant without a made field goal over the final 9:48 of the period to grab a 54-33 lead at the break.
Covenant got into a groove over the middle part of the second half and trimmed a 27-point deficit down to under 20. The Scots hit nine straight field goals over a span of six minutes to keep within distance. Touliatos had eight points during the run, while Logan Pearlman hit a pair of 3-pointers.
Samford's edge was too large for the Scots to overcome as the host Bulldogs took the win, the first of head coach Bucky McMillan's college coaching career.
Covenant hit 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the field and made 14-of-40 from 3-point land. Pearlman, Barnette, and Crumly had three 3-pointers each. Pearlman finished with nine points and Allen added six points.
Facing an up-tempo and pressing defense from Samford, the Scots turned the ball over just 15 times and forced the Bulldogs into 14 giveaways.
Samford was led by Jacob Tryon's 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists. AJ Staton-McCray had 15 points, while Logan Dye and Richardson Maitre had 14 apiece. The Bulldogs made 55.1 percent (38-of-69) from the field with 10 3-pointers and held a 46-29 rebounding edge.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NIGHT
UP NEXT
Covenant will open the regular season at Faulkner on Saturday. Tip-off in Montgomery, Ala., is set for 4 p.m. EST (3 p.m. CST).
CONNECT WITH THE SCOTS
Be sure to follow the Scots all season long on athletics.covenant.edu and on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for up-to-date scores, news and other information. To receive e-newsletters, click here
