Men's Basketball Courtesy of Covenant Athletics

Covenant Holds Off Late Comeback By LaGrange

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. - Covenant began its conference slate on Thursday night with a tight win over LaGrange. A basket from Logan Patterson via a goaltending call with 2.3 seconds remaining proved to be the deciding factor after LaGrange mounted a last-minute comeback. 

Final: Covenant 86, LaGrange 84
Records: Covenant (6-6, 1-0 CCS), LaGrange (4-11, 0-3 CCS)

FIRST HALF:

  • Covenant raced out to an 8-1 lead as its havoc on defense was too much for LaGrange early on. 
  • After LaGrange cut the lead to two points, Covenant went on an 8-0 run, highlighted by four points from Russell Hunter. 
  • Triples from Zak Thomas and Hunter followed by made free throws from Hunter kept Covenant up 10 points at the midway point of the half. 
  • A 15-2 run by the Panthers capped off by a transition dunk put them ahead 35-32.
  • After a couple of free throws from Patterson ended the run, the Panthers kept putting it on the Scots with an 8-0 run to make it 43-34.
  • A pair of free throws by LaGrange put it up 12 points with 1:37 remaining, which would be its biggest lead of the night. 
  • Covenant responded in a big way, scoring nine points in the final 1:21 of the half to go into the locker room down just three points at 48-45. 

SECOND HALF:

  • Covenant kept its momentum going into the second half as it went on an 11-0 run started by three made free throws from Luuk Dusek to go up 59-52.
  • With 13:05 remaining, the lead reached 11 points at 66-55 as Patterson made a layup inside the paint. 
  • Fisher Mitchell scored a quick five points for the Scots as they pushed their lead to 75-64.
  • Back-to-back baskets from Pierce Smith capped off a 6-0 run for Covenant as it now was up 81-67 with just over five minutes left. 
  • Patterson scored in transition and put his team ahead 15 points with the game looking like it was in Covenant's hands. 
  • In the final four minutes, LaGrange came storming back with 15 consecutive points to tie the game with six seconds remaining. 
  • Patterson drove on the ensuing possession and had his shot blocked after it hit the backboard with 2.3 seconds left, leading to a goaltending call to put the Scots up 86-84. 
  • On LaGrange's final possession a loose ball led to an open 3-pointer attempt to win the game, but the shot rimmed out.  

GAME NOTES: 

  • Covenant moves to 20-18 all-time against LaGrange. 
  • Patterson led the Scots in scoring with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. 
  • Smith posted another double-double with 18 points, tying a career high, and 10 rebounds. He also had five blocks. 
  • Hunter and Mitchell were also in double-figures with 12 points and 10 points, respectively. 12 points set a new career high for Hunter. 
  • Covenant was 39.8% (33-83) from the field and 28% (7-25) shooting 3-pointers while LaGrange was 38.8% (33-85) and 21.7% (5-23) in the same categories. 
  • Each team was 59.1% (13-22) shooting free throws.

UP NEXT: Covenant takes on Huntingdon on Tuesday, Jan. 14th at 7 p.m. inside Barnes P.E. Center.

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