The Cougars’ (6-9, 3-3 USA South) defense held the Bishops (6-11, 0-5 USA South) to 37.7 percent shooting and forced 18 turnovers in the winning effort. Averett shot poorly themselves, 38 percent from the floor, but connected on late free throws to ensure the win.
Leading by five at 59-54, Averett’s Cory McDaniel missed a pair of free throw attempts and Wesleyan answered on the other end with a quick bucket by Ramone Spears with nine seconds remaining. However, with seven seconds remaining in the contest, McDaniel redeemed himself and converted two charity attempts to seal the win at 61-54.
Three Cougars scored in double figures, led by Andrew Boor’s 18 points and nine rebounds. Former Halifax County High School standout Lymon Gregory added 12 points, while his high school teammate Sterling Williams added 11 points and five assists for the Cougars.
Averett started slowly, as the Bishops’ 9-2 run to open the game inspired a timeout by Cougar head coach Jimmy Allen. N.C. Wesleyan’s lead grew to 14-5 before Averett answered with a 19-4 spurt to claim a 24-19 lead with 6:20 remaining in the period. The Cougars led 36-28 at halftime and never trailed in the final stanza.
Spears led the Bishops with 18 points, followed by 16 points from Lenny Hall. Hall also added a game-high 11 boards.
The Averett win, their sixth of the season, equals the win total for Averett over the last three seasons combined.
The Cougars return to action on Sunday at 4 p.m. when former USA South Conference member Chowan College visits the Grant Center.
Newspaper Box Score N.C. Wesleyan vs Averett 01/29/05 4:00 PM at Danville, VA (Grant Center) At Danville, VA (Grant Center) AVERETT 61, N.C. WESLEYAN 56 N.C. WESLEYAN (6-11, 0-5) SPEARS, Ramone 8-15 2-6 18; HALL, Lenny 6-19 1-2 16; COBB, Jarvis 5-12 0-0 12; ESPINOSA, Robert 2-7 0-0 4; ARTIS, Jermaine 1-1 0-1 2; PERRY, Willie 1-1 0-0 2; CARR, Richard 0-3 2-2 2; EDWARDS, Jeremy 0-2 0-0 0; BROWN, Oliver 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 5-11 56. AVERETT (6-9, 3-3) BOOR, Andrew 6-13 6-13 18; GREGORY, Lymon 4-8 4-4 12; WILLIAMS, Sterling 3-7 4-5 11; McDANIEL, Cory 2-5 2-4 7; GARDNER, Billy 2-6 0-0 4; HASKINS, Jeremy 0-2 3-3 3; BROWN, Cameron 1-5 1-2 3; WILLIAMS, Cory 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 19-50 20-31 61. N.C. Wesleyan................. 28 28 - 56 Averett....................... 36 25 - 61 3-point goals-N.C. Wesleyan 5-18 (HALL, Lenny 3-8; COBB, Jarvis 2-7; CARR, Richard 0-2; SPEARS, Ramone 0-1), Averett 3-13 (WILLIAMS, Cory 1-2; McDANIEL, Cory 1-1; WILLIAMS, Sterling 1-4; BROWN, Cameron 0-3; GREGORY, Lymon 0-3). Fouled out--N.C. Wesleyan-ESPINOSA, Robert, Averett-None. Rebounds-N.C. Wesleyan 39 (HALL, Lenny 11), Averett 38 (BOOR, Andrew 9). Assists-N.C. Wesleyan 7 (HALL, Lenny 3), Averett 9 (WILLIAMS, Sterling 5). Total fouls-N.C. Wesleyan 22, Averett 15. A-567