Z Arima led four Covenant men's basketball players in double figure scoring with 15 points and the Scots picked up a non-conference victory with a 73-56 win over regional foe Sewanee on Tuesday evening inside Barnes PE Center.
Covenant (10-10) has won two straight games and three of its last four as it heads into the final month of the regular season.
Arima had 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting to lead a hot shooting Covenant squad. Caleb Haynes had 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks, Bailey Spragg added 12 points and three rebounds, while Will Portlock had 10 points and four rebounds off the bench.
The Scots shot 52 percent (26-of-50) for the game and went 14-of-17 from the free throw line.
Covenant scored on five of its first seven possessions in the first half to build a 13-5 lead after Haynes completed a three-point play with 16:11 left in the half. The Scots extended that lead to 19-6 after consecutive baskets from Portlock with 13:42 remaining and took their largest lead of the first half at 26-10 on another Portlock mid-range jumper with 10:14 to go.
Sewanee would slice into that lead before halftime as the visiting Tigers outscored Covenant 18-9 over the final 10 minutes to make it a 35-28 game at the break. Covenant shot 51.7 percent (15-of-29) in the opening 20 minutes.
Covenant seized a double-digit lead again in the second half. An Arima 3-pointer gave the Scots a 46-34 edge with 15:25 left and that score stayed for nearly five minutes. Sewanee got within nine at 56-47 with 3:57 left, but the Scots made 11-of-12 free throws over the next two minutes to secure the victory.
Jorden Williams led Sewanee (12-8) with 12 points, despite going 4-of-14 from the field. Brody Stone had 11 points and nine rebounds and Adrian Thomas also pulled down nine boards to go along with 10 points. The Tigers managed just 36.2 percent (21-of-58) shooting and were 3-of-19 from deep.
Both teams collected 33 rebounds. Covenant held a 23-12 edge in bench points, aided by Portlock's 10 points and Zack Allen's six.
Covenant will host Huntingdon on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in a USA South contest. The game is a make-up from the snow-out on Jan. 7.
The Covenant women's basketball team hung with USA South West Division leading Maryville for the first quarter, but the visiting Scots from the north took control in the second and prevailed 74-47 over Covenant on Tuesday night.
Covenant drops to 8-11 overall and 2-7 in the USA South. Maryville improves to 18-3 on the year with a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play.
Covenant started strong as Alex Quimby and Rachel Price had back-to-back layups to give the Scots a 4-3 lead in the early going. Covenant answered every Maryville score, including consecutive field goals from Joanna Smith and Morgan Douglass, to tie the score at 14 with 2:20 left in the period. Covenant shot 43.8 percent in the period and trailed 18-16 entering the second.
Maryville was 8-for-14 from the field in the second quarter and outscored Covenant 22-11 to gain a 40-27 lead heading into halftime. The hot shooting continued in the final two periods for Maryville as it shot 60 percent in the third and 58.3 percent in the fourth to pull away from Covenant.
Smith had 14 points, four rebounds and three assists to lead Covenant. Price and Aleigha Williams had six points apiece and Kaley Hallmark dished out four assists. The Scots had 27 rebounds, but tallied 16 on the offensive glass.
Maryville shot a blistering 57.4 percent (27-of-47) for the game and had 17 assists on those field goals. Leading scorer Allyson Freiermuth was limited to just five points, but three other players scored in double figures led by Rachel Hawn's 16 points. Madison Maples had 12 off the bench and Lauren Biliter scored 11. Libby Gardner had four assists.
Covenant hosts Wesleyan on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in a USA South contest at Barnes PE Center.