Patjo Twagirayezu scored a career-high 28 points and the Covenant men's basketball team pulled away from Huntingdon for an 81-70 USA South victory on Thursday evening inside Barnes PE Center.
The game was a make-up from the Jan. 7 contest that was snowed out.
Covenant (11-10, 4-6 USA South) is back over .500 and had three players score in double figures led by Twagirayezu's 28-point effort. Twagirayezu went 11-of-13 from the free throw line and also collected a team-high six rebounds.
Berto Dryden and Bailey Spragg had 14 points apiece, with Dryden dishing out four assists. Z Arima had seven points and four assists, while Caleb Haynes also scored seven points. Will Portlock had eight points and three rebounds.
The Scots started off with hot shooting from the field. Covenant made eight 3-pointers in the first half, including consecutive treys from Twagirayezu, Zack Allen and Dryden to build a 17-11 lead with 14:56 left in the first.
The Scots then cooled from the field and Huntingdon chipped away at its deficit. The visiting Hawks took a five-point lead at 34-29 with 2:35 left in the first after a Scotty Chadwick 3-pointer. A Wyatt Popovich 3-pointer near the end of the half gave the Hawks a 38-35 lead heading into halftime.
Covenant went on a 7-0 run to take a 49-42 lead after a Twagirayezu jumper with 16:11 remaining in the contest. The Scots would never trail again, despite Huntingdon keeping the game within reach. Covenant made 16-of-24 free throws in the second half to keep the Hawks at bay.
Covenant shot 41.4 percent (24-of-58) from the floor with 12 3-pointers. The Scots held a 38-36 rebounding edge. The teams combined for 62 fouls and Covenant made 21-of-35 at the foul line, while Huntingdon was 25-for-37.
Huntingdon (2-17, 0-8 USA South) received 19 points from Andre Ashley, while Brandon McLean had 13 points and five rebounds. Chadwick added seven points and eight boards. The Hawks were held to 37.7 percent (20-of-53) shooting and committed 21 turnovers.
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Covenant will play Huntingdon again on Wednesday, Feb. 8 in Montgomery, Ala. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. EST (5:30 p.m. CST).