SEWANEE, Tenn. -- Covenant men's basketball was tripped up in overtime, 103-102, in their second game of the Lon Varnell Classic at Sewanee on Saturday evening.
Noah Pence once again had a great day of shooting, tallying 26 points on 62.5 percent shooting.
Pierce Smith added 20 points, 11 boards, two blocks and three stealsm while
Korbin Long had 14 points and eight assists, as the Scots shot 56.7 percent from the field as a team.
In the first half, a 6-0 run with just under 15 minutes to go gave the Scots (2-2) an eight-point lead, as
James White,
Thomas Malcolm, and Pence notched buckets. Later, a trio of triples extended that lead to 15, as Pence and
Bolton Born contributed in that stretch.
The Tigers (2-1) slowly cut back that deficit though, working to make it a one-point game with 2:40 to go in the half, but a quick 6-0 run, capped by a
Cole Carroll three and
Zach Amonett layup, gave Covenant a 45-38 lead at the break.
The Scots would extend that lead back up to 11 with 14:29 to play in regulation, as Long got going with four points.
Zach Wescher and White kept the lead at 11 for the next few minutes, and then Smith knocked down two shots to push the lead out to 14 with 10:32 to go.
The lead got as high as 16, but Sewanee again slowly came back, eventually tying the game at 89 on a pair of free throws to end regulation and force OT.
In that extra period, Covenant jumped ahead by eight quickly on a triple from Pence and five straight from Amonett, but the Tigers responded, getting help from several missed free throws late and hitting a three with seven seconds left to win it by one.
Reid Carrier dropped 26 to lead Sewanee's scoring, while Nikolas Avaliani (18 points, 15 rebounds) and and Jack Bakken (17 points, 14 rebounds) posted double-doubles.
UP NEXT
The Scots will host the 84 Lumber Classic on Friday and Saturday, with their action beginning at 7 p.m. against Baptist University (Fla.).
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.
