GREENVILLE, Ill. -- Covenant men's basketball continued their excellent offensive outburst, overcoming a 23-point second half deficit to force overtime, but their comeback effort fell just short in OT, 128-127, in Greenville on Saturday afternoon.
Noah Pence scored a career-high 44 to lead all scorers, which is the second-highest single-game point output in program history.
Bolton Born continued his early season hot streak, going 6-for-6 with 18 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
Pierce Smith added 21 and nine rebounds as well to aid the offense.
After trailing for most of the first half, the Scots (1-1) clawed back into it, as
Korbin Long hit a jumper with 5:21 left in the half to cut it to two, and then
Jack Fox put in six straight points to tie it with 2:03 to go.
Grinnell (2-0) though, who began the season receiving votes in the D3hoops top 25 poll, closed out the half on a 8-0 run to take a six-point lead into the break, and then ballooned that lead all the way to 23 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game.
Covenant did not wilt.
A quick five straight points, three of which came from Pence, started the rally, and then Born and
Zach Amonett combined for another five straight to trim it to 14 with 6:23 to play.
With 4:41 to go, the Scots ran wild again, rattling off 10 straight points, with Pence scoring five in that stretch, to make it a four-point game with 3:21 to play. They got as close as two in the late stages, and then, with the final seconds ticking away, a deflection found Born, who stuck a last-ditch fadeaway to tie it at 115 and send it to overtime.
In overtime, Covenant jumped ahead by five early, and then a three from Pence gave Covenant a three-point lead with 58 seconds to play. However, the Pioneers scored the final four points of the game, including a three from Kai Te Huki to win it with 13 seconds remaining.
Te Huki led Grinnell with 32 points, while Gabe Garcia added 20 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists.
UP NEXT
The Scots will play Chattanooga in an exhibition game on Monday at 7 p.m. in McKenzie Arena.
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.
