Averett (7-3) jumped out to an early lead on the Scots (8-1), opening the game on a 21-9 run to claim an early 11-point lead. That advantage grew to 14 before a10-0 Maryville run pulled them within four at 27-23. However, the Cougars went to the halftime locker room with a 35-26 advantage.
Averett went ahead by 11 with their first bucket of the second half, but Maryville battled back. With 11:03 remaining in the contest, Andrew Boor netted a lay-up to give AU a 50-44 advantage. However, Jonathan Johnson, who was fouled on a 3-point attempt, drained three from the charity stripe and Monte Calloway hit back-to-back treys to give the Scots their first lead of the second half at 53-50.
Maryville led 53-52 before Rafael DeLeon hit two free throws to put Averett up for good. Maryville did have an opportunity to send the game into overtime late, on a Calloway 3-point attempt from the top of the key. However, it fell unsuccessful and gave the Cougars their biggest win of the season thus far.
Averett was able to claim the win thanks to the Cougar game plan of doubling in the post. When the Maryville big men touched the ball on the interior, they were forced to negotiate two, and sometimes, three defenders. Additionally, Averett out-rebounded the Scots 38-32 in the contest. Maryville was beating their opponents on the glass by over five rebounds per game.
Following Hagwood was Boor with 14 points and six rebounds. Damien Brown scored nine and tallied six caroms, while DeLeon finished with seven points and 10 boards. The Averett point guards combined for 13 assists in the contest. Sterling Williams had seven and Dominique Stevenson finished with six.
For the Scots, Calloway led the way with 20 points, while Jonathan Johnson tallied 12 points and nine rebounds.
Averett will return to action on January 2 at Lynchburg College.
Newspaper Box Score Maryville vs Averett 12/17/05 3:00 PM at Danville, VA (Grant Center) At Danville, VA (Grant Center) AVERETT 73, MARYVILLE 70 MARYVILLE (8-1) Calloway, Monte 6-13 4-4 20; Johnson, Jonathan 3-6 6-6 12; Blair, Bradley 2-10 4-4 8; Golden, Bobby 4-10 0-0 8; Holliday, Jeremy 3-4 1-4 7; Bradley, Quinn 2-5 1-2 6; Chaney, Andy 1-3 0-0 3; Coppage, Samuel 1-4 0-0 2; Orr, Christopher 1-1 0-2 2; Shumate, Andrew 1-1 0-0 2; Roberts, Blake 0-0 0-0 0; Martin, Greg 0-0 0-0 0; Bowers, Alex 0-0 0-0 0; Mason, Bo 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 16-22 70. AVERETT (7-3) HAGWOOD, Shaun 6-8 0-0 17; BOOR, Andrew 5-7 4-4 14; BROWN, Damien 3-6 3-7 9; DELEON, Rafael 3-4 1-1 7; BROWN, Cameron 3-6 0-0 6; WILLIAMS, Sterling 2-6 1-2 6; GARDNER, Billy 3-4 0-0 6; STEVENSON, Dominique 2-5 2-4 6; MCDANIEL, Cory 0-6 2-2 2; BRAAKMAN, Dimitri 0-1 0-0 0; FRAZIER, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0; HAMMOND, Luke 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 13-20 73. Maryville..................... 26 44 - 70 Averett....................... 35 38 - 73 3-point goals-Maryville 6-18 (Calloway, Monte 4-6; Chaney, Andy 1-3; Bradley, Quinn 1-3; Mason, Bo 0-4; Johnson, Jonathan 0-2), Averett 6-17 (HAGWOOD, Shaun 5-6; WILLIAMS, Sterling 1-3; BROWN, Cameron 0-2; MCDANIEL, Cory 0-5; BRAAKMAN, Dimitri 0-1). Fouled out--Maryville-None, Averett-None. Rebounds-Maryville 32 (Johnson, Jonathan 9), Averett 38 (DELEON, Rafael 10). Assists-Maryville 11 (Shumate, Andrew 2; Coppage, Samuel 2; Chaney, Andy 2), Averett 16 (WILLIAMS, Sterling 7). Total fouls-Maryville 19, Averett 17. A-210 Averett defeats the #22 Team in the Country