By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. – Up by 16 with less than six minutes to play, LaGrange (15-10, 7-5 CCS) would be unable to hold on as Covenant (9-15, 5-6 CCS) used a 22-5 run to pull off a last second 69-68 victory in an NCAA Division III men's basketball game on Wednesday, February 15.
Sophomore forward Kyle Smith (Titusville, Fla.) led the way for the Panthers with 18 points and five rebounds while junior guard Gabe Cofield (LaGrange, Ga.) just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 boards.
Freshman forward Parker Gonzalez (Johns Creek, Ga.) and senior forward Zac Hill (Senoia, Ga.) had 15 and 14 points, respectively, and senior guard Bershard Edwards (Lehigh Acres, Fla.) fueled the offense with seven assist to go with his six points, four caroms and pair of steals.
An evenly matched affair over the first 7:46, the clubs would battle through two lead changes and three ties, the last landing them at 10-10. The Scots would then score seven of the next nine points to go up 17-12 by the 10:52 mark before Smith and Hill drained back-to-back three-pointers to ignite a 9-4 that put them up 24-21 with just under seven minutes remaining in the half.
The Panthers would then methodically grow that margin to 30-24 by the 2:17 mark before Covenant put together a 10-2 run bookended by triples from Logan Pearlman and Promise Igbanu. That stretch over the last 1:54 of the opening frame sent them to the locker room holding a narrow 34-32 advantage.
A pair of ties and a lead change in the first 1:40 of the second half would leave the clubs deadlocked at 36-36 before LaGrange jumpstarted their offense. Following a scoring drought of 2:24 for both teams, the Panthers score the next nine straight points in a span of 2:30 to take a 45-36 lead with 13:30 to play.
The Scots would snap their nearly five minute scoreless stretch with four straight free throws from Igbanu as part of a 9-2 stretch of their own. That drew them to within 47-45 by the 10:53 mark only to see the Panthers wrest back control with a dominant 15-2 run powered by eight points from Gonzalez to seemingly put the game out of reach at 63-47 with just under six minutes to go.
But that final 5:48 would tell a different story as Covenant pulled off the improbable, exploding for a 22-5 run that saw Igbanu score half of those points and Malcolm Noel eight. That stretch would start off with the Scots hitting 5-of-6 free throws followed by Igbanu driving to the hole for a pair of layups to cut it to 65-56 with 2:48 to play.
CC would continue the offensive assault, pulling to within 67-66 with 25 seconds to play before Hill hit 1-of-2 at the foul line to push back to a two-point advantage two seconds later. On their ensuing possession Covenant ran the clock down to five seconds before the two most dangerous players on their roster connected with Igbanu finding Noel – who promptly drilled what would be the game-winning three-pointer to seal the unlikely 69-68 victory.
Igbanu would deliver a performance for the ages with 29 points, 11 boards, four assists and four steals to lead the Scots while Noel finished with 12 points as the only other player in double-digits. Jonathan Gernatt rounded out the top performers with eight points, four caroms and three assists.
The Panthers have now closed out the regular season and will await the completion of the rest of the league slate to find out their seed and opponent in the first round of the Collegiate Conference of the South (CCS) Tuesday, February 21.
