MARYVILLE, Tenn. - Covenant had a week off in between games and it showed on the road at Maryville tonight. Before Covenant could shake off any rust, it was too late as the defending CCS Champions had built an insurmountable lead to come all the way back from, resulting in a 23-point defeat.  

Final: Covenant 82, Maryville 105
Records: Covenant (7-9, 2-3 CCS), Maryville (14-5, 5-1 CCS)

FIRST HALF:

• Covenant got punched in the mouth early on as Maryville went on a 15-2 run to open the game, leading to a Covenant timeout. 
• Capped off by a triple from Fisher Mitchell, Covenant scored seven of the next nine points of the game to settle in. 
• Pierce Smith made a layup to keep Covenant's deficit at eight points, however an 11-0 run by Maryville, that included three triples, saw the home team move ahead 30-11.
• Both teams traded baskets for a few minutes as a transition slam from Smith put the score at 35-18 with 6:07 left in the half. 
• Maryville really turned it on afterwards, using another 11-0 run to extend its lead to 46-18. 
• Logan Patterson responded with a 3-pointer followed by a layup off a turnover for a quick five points for Covenant. 
• Kaleb Lofton and Fisher Mitchell scored for Covenant on consecutive possessions in the final minute of the half. 
• Reed Kemp for Maryville buried a corner triple as the buzzer sounded, his sixth of the half, to put his team ahead 58-28 at the intermission. 

SECOND HALF:

• Covenant started to earn some offensive rhythm as a dunk from Pierce Smith capped off a 6-0 scoring run.
• A pair of triples by Luuk Dusek put the score at 78-52.
• Covenant kept battling, scoring five points in a row to cut the deficit to 23 points with 10:32 remaining. 
• A couple of baskets for Maryville pushed its lead back to 29 points at 89-60. 
• It was with 3:16 left in the game when Maryville reached 100 points, using a fast break layup by Kemp to get to triple digits. 
• A 6-0 Covenant run with four points coming from Smith put the score at 100-78. 
• Maryville kept scoring with a pair of baskets in the final minute before Zak Thomas for Covenant got a layup to go as time expired. 

GAME NOTES: 

• Covenant moves to 12-39 all-time against Maryville.
• Dusek led the offensive attack for Covenant with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
• Smith was also in double-figures with 12 points, five rebounds, and three blocks. 
• Kemp led all scorers with 32 points for Maryville, 22 of which came in the first half. 
• Covenant was 42.5% (31-73) from the field and 26.9% (7-26) shooting 3-pointers while Maryville was 49.4% (41-83) and 36.4% (16-44) in the same categories. 
• Maryville won the rebound battle, 50-38. 
• After being down 30 at halftime, Covenant outscored Maryville 54-47 in the second half. 

UP NEXT: Covenant travels to Welch on Thursday for a nonconference game with tip-off set for 7 p.m.

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