Covenant Men Suffer Loss At LaGrange

Despite three players reaching double figures in the scoring column, the Covenant men's basketball team suffered a 91-75 loss at LaGrange on Friday night in USA South action inside Mariotti Gym.

Caleb Haynes had 19 points and five rebounds, Bailey Spragg totaled 14 points and three assists, while Berto Dryden had 13 points and nine rebounds in the loss for Covenant (8-8, 3-5 USA South).

Will Crumly just missed double-digits with his nine points and five boards.

Covenant trailed 37-31 at halftime, but hot shooting from LaGrange was the difference over the final 20 minutes of play. The host Panthers connected on 69.2 percent (18-of-26) from the field and 16-of-18 at the free throw line in the second half to outscore the Scots 54-44. Jack McCormack and Alex Bonner had 14 points apiece in the second half alone.

Early in the second half, Covenant made a run to take the lead. It was a 10-0 spurt to open the second half, highlighted by Stefon Bright and Haynes layups on back-to-back possessions followed by a Spragg 3-pointer, that gave the Scots a 41-37 lead with 18:14 left. LaGrange answered with a 12-0 run of its own to seize the lead once again and the Panthers never trailed the rest of the way.

Covenant would get within three on two occasions later in the half, but each time LaGrange answered with a mini-run that pushed the margin back towards double figures.

The Scots connected on 44.1 percent (30-of-68) from the field, but were just 4-of-20 from 3-point territory. Covenant also made only 11-of-21 at the free throw line.

Travis Thompson led all players with his 22 points to go along with eight rebounds for LaGrange (10-7, 6-4 USA South). Bonner had 20 points and seven boards, while McCormack finished with 14 points. Elijah Adedoyin chipped in 11 points off the bench.

Covenant trailed at the half after shooting 38.7 percent in the opening period, while limiting LaGrange to 34.3 percent from the field. Dryden had nine of his 13 points in the first half. Covenant's only lead in the first came at the 3:34 mark after two Haynes free throws made it 27-26.

After connecting on just 34 percent in the opening half, LaGrange finished the night at 49.2 percent (30-of-61) overall and 29-of-34 at the foul line. The Panthers also held a 44-35 rebounding edge with 15 second-chance points.

Covenant will travel to Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday to take on Huntingdon. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. EST.