MONTGOMERY, Ala. --
Jonathan Gernatt hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Covenant men's basketball team to a 79-64 win at Huntingdon in USA South play on Saturday afternoon inside Roland Arena.
Covenant (6-2, 1-0 USA South) opens conference play with a victory.
The Scots hit a season-high 13 3-pointers, including nine in the first half, while Gernatt led the way with six triples en route to his career-high performance.
Will Crumly scored 18 points with seven rebounds and
Chris Barnette had 15 points and seven assists.
It was also a season-best shooting effort for the Scots. Covenant connected on 53.6 percent (30-of-56) from the floor and finished 13-of-28 from beyond the arc.
Covenant hit nine 3-pointers in the first half and shot 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field to take a 43-26 lead at the break. Gernatt hit four of those triples and had 12 of his 20 points in the opening half.
The Scots trailed 15-11 with 11:42 left in the first half after Huntingdon's Damien Madison buried a triple. However, Covenant outscored the Hawks 32-11 the rest of the half to build a double-digit lead.
Covenant hit six 3-pointers during the final 11-plus minutes of the half and Gernatt hit all four of his treys during the run.
Huntingdon (4-6, 0-2 USA South) briefly got within 11 early in the second half, but the Scots maintained a big lead throughout the half to close out the conference win. Covenant's largest lead of the night came at 23 (70-47) after a Gernatt 3-pointer with just over seven minutes remaining.
Brady Palmer, Daevon Platt, Myles Jones, and Promise Igbanu had six points each. Platt added eight rebounds and four assists, while Igbanu also had four assists, and Jones had five assists. Covenant produced a season-high 25 assists on 30 made field goals.
Damien Madison had 22 points to lead the host Hawks. Huntingdon shot 45 percent (27-of-60) from the field.
HIGHLIGHT OF THE GAME
UP NEXT
Covenant will play its second exhibition of the season on Dec. 18 at Georgia Southern. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
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.
