With two minutes remaining in the contest, D’Juan Tucker netted a 3-pointer to pull Wesleyan (1-1) to within 74-73. However, Rumley answered with a short-corner jumper with 51 seconds remaining to give the Cougars (4-0) a three-point cushion. With 25 seconds remaining in the contest, TonTon Belenga missed a long jumper from the left side and Rumley grabbed the board. After the play, T.J. Williams was whistled for a technical foul and Rumley was fouled on the rebound. Ryan Frazier converted both technical free-throws and Rumley made one of two to lift Averett to a 79-73 advantage. Damien Brown added two additional late free throws for the final 81-73 margin.
Brown led Averett with 16 points and eight rebounds. Andrew Boor joined Rumley with 12 points, while Tyler Eubanks gave Averett a spark with nine points off of the bench. Additionally, Rumley was only two assists shy of a triple-double. Balenga led the Marlins with 26 points, while Tyler Fantin added 13. The Cougars held the Marlins to only 39 percent shooting and shutdown Wesleyan’s Brandon Adair. He scored only four points and fouled out of the contest.
The Cougars held a 38-28 halftime advantage, but the Marlins were able to take the lead with 7:50 to play at 64-63. Wesleyan used a 7-0 run for their first lead of the half, but Averett answered with their own seven-point spurt and regain the momentum and a 70-64 advantage with 5:30 remaining. The teams traded buckets until Tucker’s trey pulled the Marlins to within one.
The win for Averett is their fourth in a row and their third consecutive against an ODAC opponent. The Cougars haven’t started 4-0 since 1980 and will look to improve to 5-0 for the first time in school-history on Wednesday when they host Lynchburg College at 7 p.m. in the Grant Center.
Newspaper Box Score Virginia Wesleyan vs Averett 11/27/06 7:00 PM at Danville, VA (Grant Center) At Danville, VA (Grant Center) AVERETT 81, VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 73 VIRGINIA WESLEYAN (1-1) BALENGA, TonTon 9-19 4-5 26; FANTIN, Tyler 5-16 2-3 13; YOUNG, Rodney 3-6 0-1 7; TUCKER, D'Juan 3-8 0-1 7; DIXON, Terrell 2-7 0-0 6; PASCHAL, Ari' 2-3 0-0 4; SUMPTER, Thomas 1-3 2-2 4; ADAIR, Brandon 1-3 2-4 4; BATTAGLIA, Chris 1-1 0-0 2; HASSELL, Norman 0-3 0-0 0; WILLIAMS, T.J. 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-69 10-16 73. AVERETT (4-0) BROWN, Damien 5-11 6-9 16; RUMLEY, Jonathan 5-10 1-2 12; BOOR, Andrew 5-11 2-4 12; EUBANKS, Tyler 3-3 1-2 9; HAGWOOD, Shaun 3-8 0-0 7; MCDANIEL, Cory 2-6 2-3 7; FRAZIER, Ryan 2-3 2-2 6; GREGORY, Lymon 2-4 2-2 6; MALONE, Brandon 0-1 2-2 2; MILLER, Mike 1-1 0-0 2; PARKER, Justin 0-0 2-2 2; WILKINS, Carlos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 20-28 81. Virginia Wesleyan............. 28 45 - 73 Averett....................... 38 43 - 81 3-point goals-Virginia Wesleyan 9-25 (BALENGA, TonTon 4-9; DIXON, Terrell 2-4; TUCKER, D'Juan 1-3; FANTIN, Tyler 1-5; YOUNG, Rodney 1-2; HASSELL, Norman 0-1; PASCHAL, Ari' 0-1), Averett 5-14 (EUBANKS, Tyler 2-2; HAGWOOD, Shaun 1-6; RUMLEY, Jonathan 1-1; MCDANIEL, Cory 1-4; FRAZIER, Ryan 0-1). Fouled out--Virginia Wesleyan-ADAIR, Brandon, Averett-None. Rebounds-Virginia Wesleyan 40 (BALENGA, TonTon 9), Averett 42 (RUMLEY, Jonathan 10). Assists-Virginia Wesleyan 10 (TUCKER, D'Juan 3; SUMPTER, Thomas 3), Averett 17 (RUMLEY, Jonathan 8). Total fouls-Virginia Wesleyan 23, Averett 17. A-1044 Cougars snap 29-game VWC winning streak.