.On Saturday afternoon, the Covenant College men's basketball team took on future CCS opponent, Asbury. The Scots fell just short 68-66 in a high-level game, thanks to a buzzer-beater 3-pointer by the Eagles.
Logan Pearlman knocked down two 3-pointers early on to help put Covenant ahead 8-3.
Pearlman hit his third triple of the half with 12:18 remaining to give the Scots a 14-5 lead.
Midway through the half, Gus Hood got a jumper to fall as Covenant led 20-10. Highlighted by a pair of triples from Cayden Lancaster, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run. The Scots answered with a 6-0 run capped off by a fast break basket from Eli Witt to take a 33-23 lead. Asbury had the final punch before halftime with a 3-pointer by Dakota Walden to cut the Covenant lead to 37-30.
Asbury scored the first five points after halftime to cut the Scots lead to two points. Each team had a few empty possessions before Colt Donley hit a layup to give the Scots a 43-39 advantage with 13:44 remaining. With the lead down to one point, David Compere made a triple to put the lead back at two possessions. Covenant and Asbury continued to go blow-for-blow as a 3-pointer by Walden put Asbury back within one point. After losing the lead, a 6-0 run for the Scots, all of which was scored at the free-throw line put them ahead 56-51.
Back-to-back triples from Caleb Wallis gave Asbury the lead at 59-58 with 4:43 remaining.
Pealrman hit the Scots' final basket of the day, with a 3-pointer to give the Scots back the lead at 66-64 with 2:13 left. With 4.6 seconds left and leading 66-65, Covenant missed the front end of a 1-and-1, then Asbury went down the court with Wallis making a miracle buzzer-beater shot from deep to win the game.
Covenant was led by Jonathan Gernatt who scored 20 points and brought down 12 rebounds for a double-double. Pearlman posted a season-high 16 points with four made triples. Wallis led all scorers with 31 points, including the game-winning 3-pointer. Covenant was 40% (22-55) from the field while Asbury shot 34.8% (23-66). The Scots made 10 3-pointers and Asbury made 12.
Each team had 14 assists.
Covenant battles Sewanee at home on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for Mistletoe Madness.