With the loss, Averett (12-13, 6-6 USA South) drops into a three-way tie for third place in the USA South with Shenandoah and Greensboro. The Cougars earned the third seed in the upcoming tournament, by virtue of a season sweep of Greensboro College.
The Cougars led 34-24 with 5 minutes remaining in the first half. However, Averett failed to score a field goal for the remainder of the half and allowed the Bishops (9-16, 2-10 USA South) to pull within 37-34 at the intermission.
Averett looked to take control in the second half as well, pulling out to a 69-63 lead with two minutes remaining in the contest. But, seven unanswered points by N.C. Wesleyan gave the Bishops a 70-69 advantage with 33 seconds to go. With 13 seconds showing on the clock, Jeremy Haskins netted a lay up and was fouled. His made free throw gave Averett a 72-70 advantage, until Wesleyan’s Richard Carr knocked down a jumper with two seconds to play to send the game into an extra session.
Averett scored the first six points in the overtime period, but the Bishops scored the last six to knot the game at 78-78 after the first overtime period. The second overtime saw Wesleyan jump out to a five-point lead with 13 seconds remaining. Averett cut it to two on a Cameron Brown 3-pointer with two seconds left, but could get no closer. A made free throw by the Bishops gave Wesleyan the final 93-90 margin.
Gregory was 9-for-14 from the field and added eight rebounds to lead the Cougars. Haskins added 18 points, as Billy Gardner contributed with 14 points and eight boards. Brown scored 10 for Averett.
Carr and Jarvis Cobb each scored 21 for the Bishops. Lenny Hall added 20 points to help lead his team to a win in the season finale.
The Cougars will face Ferrum at 5 p.m. in the first round of the USA South Tournament Thursday at Greensboro College.
Newspaper Box Score Averett vs NC Wesleyan 2/20/05 4:00 at Rocky Mount, NC At Rocky Mount, NC NC WESLEYAN 93, AVERETT 90 AVERETT (12-13, 6-6) GREGORY, Lymon 9-14 4-6 22; HASKINS, Jeremy 7-10 4-5 18; GARDNER, Billy 5-10 4-7 14; BROWN, Cameron 4-14 0-0 10; WILLIAMS, Sterling 3-13 2-2 9; WILLIAMS, Cory 3-4 0-0 9; McDANIEL, Cory 3-5 0-0 6; HAMMOND, Luke 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 35-72 14-20 90. NC WESLEYAN (9-16, 2-10) COBB, Jarvis 6-18 5-6 21; CARR, Richard 6-16 9-12 21; HALL, Lenny 6-12 7-7 20; ESPINOSA, Robert 4-6 5-6 13; SPEARS, Ramone 5-17 2-5 12; BARRETT, Jake 1-1 0-0 2; HARTSFIELD, JONATHAN 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 29-71 30-38 93. Averett....................... 37 35 6 12 - 90 NC Wesleyan................... 34 38 6 15 - 93 3-point goals-Averett 6-23 (WILLIAMS, Cory 3-3; BROWN, Cameron 2-8; WILLIAMS, Sterling 1-7; McDANIEL, Cory 0-1; HAMMOND, Luke 0-1; GARDNER, Billy 0-1; HASKINS, Jeremy 0-1; GREGORY, Lymon 0-1), NC Wesleyan 5-25 (COBB, Jarvis 4-13; HALL, Lenny 1-3; SPEARS, Ramone 0-3; CARR, Richard 0-6). Fouled out--Averett-WILLIAMS, Sterling; HASKINS, Jeremy, NC Wesleyan-HALL, Lenny. Rebounds-Averett 31 (GREGORY, Lymon 8; GARDNER, Billy 8), NC Wesleyan 42 (SPEARS, Ramone 12). Assists-Averett 23 (WILLIAMS, Sterling 6), NC Wesleyan 11 (HALL, Lenny 5). Total fouls-Averett 24, NC Wesleyan 17. A-40