ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. -- The Covenant men's basketball team dropped their final regular-season game to NC Wesleyan, 81-70, on Saturday afternoon from the Everett Gymnasium.

Will Crumly led the way for the Scots recording 22 points on 10-of-16 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Chris Barnette chipped in with 15 points of his own and seven boards to go with a game-high five assists while Jared Jauch was the only other Scot with double-digit points at 11.

NC Wesleyan (13-12 (9-8 USA South) scored the first bucket of the game and Covenant (14-11, 11-7 USA South) answered with a 10-2 run going into the first media timeout of the game. The Bishops then answered with a 10-2 run of their own to take a four-point lead with 12:49 left in the half.

After falling behind 25-17, the Scots were able to trim the lead to two on a Crumly 3-pointer with 5:21 to go in the first half but were unable to tie the game as the hosts went into the locker room with a 41-34 advantage.

Covenant came back out of the break firing, grabbing the first eight points and taking back a one-point lead off a James Mitchell triple just over two and a half minutes into the half. 

The second half then became a back-and-forth affair as the Scots grabbed their last lead of the contest on a pair of Crumly free throws with 5:30 to go in the game. The Bishops then hit a 3-pointer on their next possession to start a 7-0 spurt that the Scots could not overcome.

Wesleyan was led by Damon McDowell who poured in a game-high 24 points and pulled down a game-high eight boards. AJ Frye scored 22 points of his own to go with six rebounds and Ricardo Bullock recorded 13 points.

Covenant shot 43.5 percent (27-for-62) overall and went 10-for-31 (32.3 percent) from behind the 3-point line. The Scots finished 6-for-7 (85.7 percent) from the free-throw line.

The Bishops were 28-of-55 (50.9 percent) from the floor and shot 60 percent (9-for-15) from 3-point range. NC Wesleyan wrapped up the contest going 16-for-21 (76.2 percent) from the charity stripe.

UP NEXT

The Scots host Maryville in the opening round of the USA South tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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