The best men's basketball season in Covenant College history ended Friday in a 76-51 loss at Emory in the NCAA Division IIII tournament first round.
The Scots ended at 18-10, the .643 winning percentage being the best for the program. They last compiled 18 wins in 1995-96.
Emory (19-7) will face Birmingham-Southern today in the second round. BSC, which beat Sewanee for the Southern Athletic Association tournament title, edged LaGrange from Covenant's league Friday, 93-91.
Covenant missed 19 of its first 20 shots from the field and trailed 26-3 with 5:35 left in the first half Friday night. The Scots quickly cut 10 points off that margin and shrank a 33-17 halftime deficit to 33-22 as the final period began, but the Eagles matched that 5-0 run and maintained a double-digit lead.
TJ Cox led the Scots with 12 points, and Robby Bell was next with nine. Each made three 3-point baskets. Will Trawick and Austin DaGue scored 17 and 16 points for Emory.
Lee falls to Union
Top-seeded and nationally ninth-ranked Union University defeated No. 5 seed Lee University 69-50 in a Gulf South Conference women's tournament semifinal Friday at Homewood, Ala.
Tiara Caldwell had 20 points and 13 rebounds and Jada Smith had 19 points and five assists for Union (28-2). Lee (20-10) was led by Erin Walsh with four 3-pointers and 17 points, while Carrie Cheeks scored 13 points, Christina Johnson grabbed 11 rebounds and Jordan Neuharth had five assists and three steals.
The Jackson, Tenn., team outscored the Lady Flames in every quarter.
Lady Cougars No. 2
For the second year in a row, the Cleveland State Lady Cougars were seeded second and lost to Walters State in the TCCAA/Region VII tournament championship game.
Nationally eighth-ranked Walters pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 65-47 victory at Gallatin, Tenn., that lifted the Lady Senators to 32-0 and a spot in the NJCAA Division I tournament March 14-19 in Lubbock, Texas. They led only 23-22 at halftime.
JLynn Majors scored 16 points and Leisa Butler had 10 for the Lady Cougars (24-6), and those two and Jaclyn Griffith made the all-tournament team. Butler had scored 19 with Majors adding 11 and Ny'Asia Holmes scoring 10 in Thursday's 60-56 win over third seed Roane State, which got close after trailing 35-20 at halftime.
The No. 1 seed prevailed also against No. 2 in the men's final, Southwest Tennessee outlasting Motlow.
TWC set for nationals
Both Tennessee Wesleyan teams begin NAIA Division II tournament play next week, coach Jeff Rice's Lady Bulldogs playing in Sioux City, Iowa, for the sixth time in seven years after winning the Appalachian Athletic Conference tournament and Mike Poe's Bulldogs going to Point Lookout, Mo., after winning a playoff for the AAC men's regular-season top spot.
The Wesleyan women (17-9) are an eighth seed facing a No. 1 seed, Saint Xavier of Illinois (29-3) at 2:45 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday. The TWC guys (28-3) are a third seed opening at 9:30 a.m. Thursday against No. 6 seed Valley City State (21-10), a North Dakota school.