JACKSON, Miss. -- Will Crumly eclipsed the 1,000 career point milestone, but the Covenant men's basketball team fell in overtime, 93-85, at Belhaven on Saturday night inside Rugg Arena.
Crumly scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting to become the 29th member of Covenant's 1,000-career point club. The junior accomplished the feat in just 63 career games, averaging 15.9 points per game. Crumly hit the career milestone with a pair of free throws in the second half.
Covenant (5-3) led by as many as nine in the second half after Crumly flushed a dunk with 17:22 remaining. The Scots led for most of the second half, but Belhaven rallied and evened the score on a Luke Couch layup with five seconds left to force overtime.
In the overtime period, Belhaven (3-5) seized control as the host Blazers scored the first six points and built a 10-point lead to secure the victory.
Belhaven's Brosnan Cooks led all players with 42 points on 16-of-23 shooting, including four 3-pointers, to go along with six assists and five rebounds. Trai James added 14 points and Couch scored 13 points for the Blazers, who have won two straight games.
Covenant had four players score in double figures led by Chris Barnette's 18 points. Barnette also had a team-high nine rebounds and seven assists. Crumly had 16, while Zack Allen totaled 11 points and Daevon Platt recorded 10 points off the bench.
The Scots shot well from the field connecting on 49.3 percent (35-of-71) for the game but managed only four 3-pointers on 22 attempts. Covenant out-rebounded Belhaven 35-24 on the night. Belhaven shot even better as the Blazers made 58.3 percent (35-of-60) and dished out 26 assists. The Blazers turned 24 Covenant turnovers into 23 points.
Playing its first game in 21 days, Covenant was rusty at the start as the Scots scored just three points in the first four minutes of the contest. Covenant fell behind 10-3 early but gained a 15-14 edge on a Mitchell Hollis 3-pointer with 12:28 left in the first half. The Scots stretched the lead to 22-15 on a Platt bucket at the 8:03 mark and led 36-34 at halftime.
Covenant opened the second half with five quick points on a Brady Palmer layup and an Allen 3-pointer to go ahead 41-34. After leading 47-38, Belhaven rallied and the teams traded baskets over the final 10 minutes of the period.
Down 72-71 with under one minute left, Palmer drained a deep 3-pointer to give the Scots a two-point lead with 54 seconds remaining. Palmer finished with nine points.
Covenant led 75-73 with 18.1 seconds left, but Couch converted a layup on a back-door cut to tie the game at 75 with five seconds remaining. Covenant had one last chance in regulation, but Barnette could not get off a long 3-point attempt before the buzzer sounded.
Covenant has lost five straight overtime games. The Scots last won an extra-session game on Jan. 28, 2017 against William Peace (84-82).