Covenant College

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - For its final game of the calendar year, Covenant traveled to the Queen City to battle Johnson and Wales in the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Wildcats gave the Scots all they could handle late, but the boys in blue did what they had to do to bring home their fourth win of the year. 

Final: Covenant 92, Johnson and Wales 88
Records: Covenant (4-6), Johnson and Wales (1-9)

FIRST HALF:

• JWU came out firing, making its first three shots to go up 7-0 inside the first 90 seconds. 
• A 3-pointer followed by an inside basket for the Wildcats pushed their lead to double-digits at 14-3.
• A 7-0 Covenant run capped off by a lay-in from Kaleb Lofton cut the JWU lead to four points. 
• With 9:16 left in the half, Covenant completed its comeback as Russell Hunter knocked down a triple to tie the game at 24. 
• Covenant scored the next two baskets to go up 28-24 as Pierce Smith and Logan Patterson got jumpers to fall.
• The Scots went scoreless for 3.5 minutes allowing the Wildcats to jump back ahead 41-34.
• Thomas Malcolm and Luuk Dusek each hit a triple in the final 1:21 of the half to cut the JWU lead to one point at the break. 

SECOND HALF:

• The Scots scored eight of the first nine points of the half to put themselves ahead 48-42.
• The lead reached 10 points with 12:37 remaining after Jake Stephens got a basket to go inside the paint. 
• Covenant and JWU traded baskets for the next several minutes as Smith made a layup to put the score at 75-63. 
• The Wildcats started to get some stops and eventually cut the Scots lead to 84-82 after a made triple with 3:25 left in the game. 
• At the 1:30 marker, JWU completed the second half comeback to tie the game at 86. 
• On Covenant's next two possessions, one made free throw by Zak Thomas, and a defensive goaltending call on Patterson's inside shot put it up three points. 
• JWU had a chance to tie the game with three seconds remaining at the line, but missed both free throw attempts. 
• Adam Deininger buried two free throws afterwards to seal the win. 

GAME NOTES: 

• Covenant moves to 1-0 all-time against Johnson and Wales. 
• Duusek led the Scots with a career-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting with seven made 3-pointers. 
• Scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting for Covenant was Smith. 
• Thomas was Covenant's final double-digit scorer, posting a career-high 14 points. 
• Covenant shot 38.6% (32-83) from the field and 35.9% (14-39) on 3-pointers while JWU was 51.5% (34-66) and 21.1% (4-19) in the same categories. 

UP NEXT: Covenant takes on Warren Wilson on the road on January 4th at 3 p.m.

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