The Covenant men's basketball team brought its fast-paced system to Huntingdon looking to pull off an upset. The Hawks had a different idea though as they scored 129 points to cruise to a Senior Day win over the Scots.
Covenant 97, Huntingdon 129 Huntingdon came out firing offensively as it led 21-9 by the under-16 media timeout. Later on a pair of baskets in the paint on consecutive possessions extended the Hawks' lead to 33-14. Ethan Parker capped off a quick 5-0 run for Covenant with a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 14 points.
The Scots started to get some stops defensively and used that to help their offense as 3-pointers by Fisher Mitchell and Derrius Teagle made it 37-27. The lead was cut to single digits a few minutes later on a Teagle layup. A 10-0 run by the Hawks pushed their lead back to 18 points at 50-32.
Huntingdon went up 22 points before a 10-0 run for Covenant with five points from Logan Patterson put the score at 58-46. Moments before the halftime buzzer, Huntingdon scored a layup to put it ahead 62-47.
A few minutes into the second half, a 6-0 run by Huntingdon put it in front 21 points. Huntingdon finished at the rim with a pair of dunks to extend its lead to 80-55. For the next several minutes, the Scots and the Hawks traded baskets as an inside make from Jake Stephens kept the deficit at 25 points with 9:48 remaining. At the 7:32 mark, the Hawks reached the century mark as they led 100-76.
Huntingdon scored seven straight points to move up 109-77. Pierce Smith scored on three possessions late to put the score at 115-86. Three triples by the Hawks pushed the lead to 37 points, which was their biggest lead of the game. Teagle had the final basket of the night with 20 seconds remaining.
Covenant moves to 19-14 all-time against Huntingdon. Smith with 19 points and Mitchell with 17 points were Covenant's leading scorers. Parker scored a career-high 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting.
Nate Johns for Huntingdon led all scorers with 30 points on 13-of-14 shooting.
Covenant shot 43.4% (33-76) from the field and 32.3% (10-31) behind the 3-point line while Huntingdon was 56.3% (49-87) and 37.9% (11-29) in the same categories. Huntingdon dominated the glass, outrebounding Covenant 52-31.
With Piedmont's win over LaGrange today, Covenant clinched its spot in the CCS Tournament. 129 points is the most points Covenant has given since joining NCAA Division III.
Covenant takes on Maryville on Tuesday at 7 p.m. for Senior Night.