Warriors Edged by Covenant Christian

After trailing early, the host Western Michigan Christian boys basketball team fought back, but were unable to pull it out, falling to Covenant Christian on Tuesday night by a score of 44-41.

The Warriors trailed 11-4 at the first stop, 19-12 at intermission and 32-26 going into the final period of play.

Owen Varnado hit a bucket to bring the Warriors to within one point at 42 to 41, but Covenant hit a free throw to stretch their lead to 43-41.

Covenant’s Blake Kamps converted another free throw to extend their lead to 44-41. WMC called a timeout with 5.3 seconds left and missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

"Tonight was a defensive battle with Covenant Christian," WMC coach Kurt Gruppen said.  "We were able to find the basket a little more consistently in the second half and eventually took a one-point lead. 

"Covenant made a few more plays down the stretch and we came up empty on our last few possessions. Our team showed some resolve in coming back after a slow start.  We turn our focus to a good Orchard View team on Friday. 
 
The Warriors were led by Varnado with 14 points and seven rebounds, Nick Moser with nine points and Brant Zeerip with eight.

Covenant was led by junior Ty Mulder with 22 points, including six 3-pointers.