On February 15, 2023, the Covenant Scots men's basketball team took the court for their last home game, led by forward Promise Igbanu ‘23. They took on the LaGrange Panthers, who entered the game ranked second in the conference. Prior to the game, the Scots honored Igbanu, the lone senior in the Men’s Basketball program. According to HomeTeam US, a sports analytics company, Igbanu is the third rated Division III Forward for the month of February, with a rating of 93. This follows a tied-for-fourth, 92 ranking, for the month of January. He averages an impressive 20 plus points per game (ppg) and seven rebounds per game according to the Covenant Scots website.
Although the Scots were the underdogs entering the game, they battled viciously for the entirety of the game. The first half was a duel, with neither team seemingly having an edge over the other. The Panthers and Scots went back and forth on the lead all half until the Scots scooted barely ahead right at the end of the half. The Scots squeezed a 34-32 lead entering the halftime break.
The second half told a different story. LaGrange came out of the locker room hungry and ready to go to work. With just a mere 05:48 left in the game, the Scots trailed big, 63-47, a 16 point deficit. The Panthers, led by big performances by Kyle Smith, Zac Hill and Parker Gonzalez, finishing with 18, 14 and 15 points respectively, seemed to have the game readily under control.
This proved to be untrue thanks to standout performances by Igbanu and Malcolm Noel ‘26. The Scots battled and cut the lead from 63-47 to 67-61 with one minute remaining in regulation. Igbanu scored a layup followed by a contested layup resulting in an “and 1” situation, making the free throw as well, thus cutting the lead to 67-66. With 23 seconds remaining the Panthers made a free throw to take a 2 point lead 68-66. And then, with five seconds remaining, Noel drained a three-pointer to give the Scots a 69-68 point lead. The Panthers had 0.5 seconds to draw up a baseline play, but the shot bounced off the rim, and the Scots took home the Senior Night win in dramatic fashion.
Igbanu finished the game with a whopping 30 points, Noel followed with a 12 point performance. Igbanu also led the Scots in rebounds with 11, followed by Jonathan Gernatt ‘24 who had 4.
The Scots finished the regular season at Huntingdon with a 71-66 loss, finishing the season at 9-15. They then fell to LaGrange at LaGrange in the conference playoffs. It was nonetheless an exciting season, and the fans cannot wait to see the Scots take the court again next November!