The Covenant men's basketball team used a season-high tying 16 3-pointers, including eight from James Mitchell, and pulled away from Huntingdon in the second half for a 90-75 victory on Saturday afternoon.
The win for Covenant (9-8, 4-5 USA South) completes a season sweep of Huntingdon.
Mitchell went 8-of-13 from beyond the 3-point line, his third game this season with at least seven 3-pointers, and nailed treys on four straight possessions to widen the Scots' lead to 22 after Huntingdon had gotten within 10 late in the second half.
The sophomore also added four assists and five steals on the day.
Bailey Spragg totaled 11 points, 10 assists and six rebounds. It was the second time this season that Spragg dished out 10 assists and the junior continues to lead the USA South in assists per game at 5.2. Berto Dryden had 15 points and five assists, while Caleb Haynes had 14 points and five rebounds. Mitchell Hollis added nine points, on three 3-pointers, off the bench and Nick Palmer chipped in seven.
Before Mitchell got hot late in the second half, the difference in the game was Covenant's shooting in the first half. The Scots were well over 60 percent shooting for much of the period and ended the half connecting on 57.6 percent (19-of-33) from the field. A 16-2 run in the first half, aided by all seven of Palmer's points in the game, gave the Scots a 34-20 lead with 7:15 left in the period.
Dryden had 10 points in the first half as Covenant built a 17-point lead, 49-32, at the break.
In the second half, Covenant quickly extended the lead to 22 on a Dryden jumper that made it 56-34 with 17:53 remaining. Covenant led by 23 later in the half, but a Huntingdon run sliced the Scots' edge to just 10, 73-63, with under seven minutes left. Mitchell then caught fire as he drained 3-pointers on four straight possessions to give the Scots a 22-point lead at 85-63 with 5:02 left.
For the game, Covenant shot 57.4 percent (35-of-61) from the field, its second-best shooting performance of the year, while making 16 triples. It marked the third time this season Covenant made 16 3-pointers in a contest. The Scots also tallied 25 assists and produced 30 points off 23 Huntingdon turnovers.
Huntingdon (8-10, 2-8 USA South) was led by Kyante Pines' 17 points, while Brandon McLean had 14 points and eight rebounds. Trey Livingston added 14 points for the host Hawks. Huntingdon connected on 51.6 percent (32-of-62), but went just 5-of-16 from 3-point land.
The Scots return home to Barnes PE Center on Wednesday, Jan. 31 against Maryville. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.