LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant men's basketball team built a 13-point lead in the first half, but visiting Rhodes came back to take a 65-57 victory over the Scots on Saturday afternoon inside Barnes PE Center.

It was the first home loss for Covenant (4-2) this season.

The Scots led 11-0 to open the game and extended that margin to 17-4 eight minutes into the contest. However, cold shooting plagued Covenant as Rhodes outscored the Scots 42-31 in the second half and pulled away for the victory.

Will Crumly led the Scots with 16 points and six rebounds, while Chris Barnette and Myles Jones had 10 points apiece. Barnette added six assists. Brady Palmer had eight points and Daevon Platt added seven points off the bench.

Covenant began the game with an 11-0 run, capped by a Palmer 3-pointer with 14:26 left in the first half. That margin extended to 13 (17-4) on a Platt basket with 12:17 remaining in the opening half.

Rhodes (4-3) chipped away at its deficit as the Scots' shooting woes began midway through the first half. The visiting Lynx got within 26-23 at the break.

In the second half, Rhodes took its first lead of the game on a Koki Wiley 3-pointer with 15 minutes left that gave the Lynx a 36-35 edge. Covenant would not overcome that deficit as Rhodes stretched the lead to nine later in the half.

Covenant shot 31.7 percent (20-of-63) from the field with seven 3-pointers. Rhodes was held to just 27 percent shooting in the first half, but connected on 59.3 percent (16-of-27) in the second half and hit six 3-pointers.

Jalen Essick led all players with 17 points for Rhodes. Mac James added 10 points for the Lynx.

UP NEXT

Covenant will face No. 22-ranked Emory on Tuesday inside Barnes PE Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

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.