MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- Covenant men's basketball was unable to overcome a big first half deficit, falling to Maryville, 98-73, at the Cooper Athletic Center on Tuesday evening.

Pierce Smith provided substantial offensive firepower for Covenant (8-14, 3-6 CCS), dropping 21 points on 9-of-11 field goals to lead all scorers.

Maryville (17-4, 8-0 CCS) started out hot, going on a 17-3 run in the first 5:23 of play. Covenant was able to mount a counterattack, however, going on an 8-0 stretch to trim it back down to six. Smith, Korbin Long, and reigning CCS Rookie of the Week Bolton Born had buckets in that stretch.

Maryville kept up the strong play, though, extending their lead as high as 25 just before the break.

Covenant opened the second half confidently, going on a 10-3 run, capped by an Ethan Parker triple. Logan Patterson, Smith, and Long attempted to keep pace early in the half as well, keeping the game at a 15-point deficit with 13:38 to play.

However, the Maryville offense proved to be the better one that day, as they pushed their lead out to as much as 30 before the end. Lucas Bryant and Blake Batts made some late impacts for Covenant though, scoring a basket each toward the end of the game.

For Maryville, Chase Morgan and Matthew Schneider collected 20 points and nine boards each, while Javi Rosell filled the box score with four points, six boards, six assists and four steals.

UP NEXT

The Scots get a week off before traveling to Demorest, facing Piedmont next Tuesday evening at 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.