SEWANEE, Tenn. -- The Covenant men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit and used a 10-0 run late in the second half to complete a 75-72 comeback win over Birmingham Southern in the opener of Lon Varnell Classic inside Juhan Gymnasium on Friday night.

Will Crumly scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Chris Barnette had a game-high 20 points to lead Covenant (3-1).

Covenant trailed 40-29 at the half as Birmingham Southern (1-2) hit seven 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

After Birmingham Southern built its biggest lead of the game at 13 early in the second half, the Scots mounted a comeback. Covenant used a 14-4 run, capped by a Jackson Fitzgerald layup with 12:38 remaining to trim the deficit to 48-45.

The Scots still trailed 64-59 with 5:12 left. A Barnette 3-pointer on the Scots' next possession kick-started a 10-0 run over the next two-and-a-half minutes as Covenant grabbed a 69-64 lead on a Crumly bucket with 2:21 left in the game. Crumly scored the final seven points of the critical run.

Covenant took its largest lead of the night at 75-69 after Barnette and Brady Palmer hit jumpers on consecutive possessions with 40 seconds left. Birmingham Southern's Evan Sigler made three free throws to make it 75-72. The Panthers had one last chance after a Covenant turnover, but a Sigler 3-pointer was off target as time expired.

Barnette had 20 points with four assists and five rebounds in the win, while Crumly added six rebounds to his 17-point night off the bench. Promise Igbanu had 12 points and five rebounds with Jonathan Gernatt tallying eight points and Palmer seven.

Covenant shot 53.1 percent in the second half and connected on 46.9 percent (30-of-64) for the game from the field.

Birmingham Southern was led by Sigler's 15 points. The Panthers made 34.9 percent (22-of-63) from the field.

UP NEXT

Covenant faces Sewanee on Saturday at 4 p.m.  EST (3 p.m. CST) in the finale of the Lon Varnell Classic.

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.

Go Scots!