First-Time Opponent Pins 83-69 Setback on Gophers

TOWSON, Md. — Even a run of 15 consecutive points early in the second half wasn't enough for Goucher to get back in tonight's game against Covenant.

The Gophers, who trailed the Scots by 29 points at the end of the first half, fell further behind during the opening moments of the second period and were down 57-24 after a layup by Teron Ferguson with 16:43 left to play. All the 15-0 run, which started with a layup by Tre Galloway III (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) and ended with a layup by Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park), accomplished was to reduce the visiting team's lead to 18 with still more than 12 minutes remaining.

That, however, was as close as the game would get until Goucher tallied the final seven points of the contest to make the final score 83-69, in favor of Covenant.

The Gophers (0-2) made only one of their first six shots from the field and were in an 11-3 hole before the game was even five minutes old. Thanks to a basket and a pair of free throws by Miles and a bucket in the paint by Chris Outing (New Windsor, N.Y./James I. O'Neill), they clawed their way back to within 11-9, only to have the Scots (1-1) respond by scoring 20 of the next 22 points, opening up a commanding 31-11 advantage with 5:33 left to play before halftime.

Goucher took 25 shots in the opening 20 minutes and made only six of them (.240). In the second half, they made 20 of their 36 attempts, which raised their shooting percentage for the game to .426.

Of the five starters for Goucher, only Outing was able to score in double figures as he finished with 11 points. Galloway came off the bench to lead all scorers with 22 points and Miles supplied the Gophers with 16 points.

Ben Phelps knocked down 17 points to secure scoring honors for Covenant, which was picked to finish in 10th place in the USA South Athletic Conference by head coaches in a preseason poll.

Outing collected a game-high 10 rebounds.

This was the first ever meeting between the two schools in the sport of men's basketball.

Goucher's next game will be on the road Wednesday against Penn State-Altoona. It's scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.