WILMORE, Ky. -- The Covenant men's basketball team gained an 11-point lead in the first half, but host Asbury stormed back and then held off a late Scots rally to take a 69-64 win inside the Luce Center on New Year's Eve.

It was the second straight day the two teams had met as Asbury (6-2) pulled out a 76-70 win on Wednesday. Covenant drops to 3-3 on the year.

Unlike Wednesday's contest, the Scots got off to a fast start and built a double-digit lead in the first half. A 7-0 run, capped by a Brady Palmer 3-pointer, gave Covenant its largest lead of the game at 24-13 with 9:15 left in the opening period. The lead remained in double figures after a Luke Touliatos triple made it 29-19 with eight minutes to go in the first.

Asbury fought back with the biggest run of the game for either team. The Eagles went on an 18-2 spurt over the next five minutes to erase the 10-point Covenant lead and go ahead 37-31 with 2:55 left in the half. Asbury held a 39-35 lead at the half.

Covenant trailed for the entirety of the second half, but made a push late. Down 62-54 with four minutes left, Chris Barnette and Will Crumly had back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to 62-58 with 3:13 left. Palmer then came up with a steal and finished Barnette's missed layup with a putback to get Covenant within 62-60 with 2:44 remaining.

Although the 3-pointers were not falling as frequently for Asbury on Thursday as they did on Wednesday, Leander Ridgeway knocked down a trey on Asbury's next possession to push the Eagles' lead back to 65-60 with 2:22 to go. Asbury hit 11 3-pointers for the game after hitting 15 in Wednesday's contest.

After another Crumly bucket made it 65-62, Covenant forced Asbury into consecutive turnovers but could not capitalize on offense. The Scots' last chance came up just short as Crumly's game-tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds left rimmed in-and-out. Asbury went 4-for-4 at the foul line to complete the win.

Crumly led the Scots with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Touliatos had 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists while Palmer had a career-high 12 points with five rebounds. Barnette added seven points and matched a career-best with 10 rebounds.

Covenant connected on just 39.4 percent (28-of-71) for the game with five 3-pointers. The Scots held a 39-36 edge in rebounding.

Asbury got a game-high 23 points and 15 rebounds from Ridgeway. Jamiel Goliday totaled 14 points for the Eagles, who shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) with 11 3-pointers.

UP NEXT

Covenant is scheduled to play at Berry on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. For the latest schedule information, visit athletics.covenant.edu.

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