It didn't come on a monstrous dunk, nor on a fade away jumper from the baseline. It wasn't a buzzer-beater either. Instead, at the 15:20 mark of the first half during Averett's game at Christopher Newport University on Saturday, history was made from the foul line.

After missing his first attempt, Averett senior Damien Brown netted his second free throw to reach 1,000 points for his career. Brown became only the seventh Cougar in the men's basketball program to reach the milestone.

“It's an honor to be up there with six other Cougars who have reached that 1,000-point mark,” said Brown, who finished the weekend with 1,017 career points. “It's really an honor and a great achievement for me. It's proof of how working really hard can pay off.”

Brown is the first player to score 1,000 points under fifth-year head coach Jimmy Allen.

“I'm really excited for Damien,” Allen said. “He's been a huge reason for the success of our program throughout his career. He's a kid who came here and worked really hard to become a good player. He's gotten stronger and he's just bought into everything that we try to do. He's always done it with a great attitude and he's taken a lot of pride in this program and what it means to play in this program. It just says a lot to have an accomplishment like that.”

Brown entered his senior season 157 points shy, and by Jan. 21, when Averett hosted Methodist University, he was 16 points away. Brown got off to a solid start, scoring the Cougars' first four points. With 10 points and Averett in control against the Monarchs, it seemed as though Brown wouldn't get close to the mark that night. However, Brown and the rest of the Cougars were substituted back into the game late to hold off any sort of a Methodist comeback. Brown added to his total during that final stretch, but the Raleigh, N.C., native fell one point shy of breaking the mark in front of an home crowd at the Grant Center that was anxious to see Brown hit 1,000.

Brown had to then wait until his first scoring opportunity on Saturday against Christopher Newport. Still, it didn't lessen his accomplishment.

“It's a special thing. A lot of people don't get to hit 1,000,” teammate Jonathan Rumley said. “I'm really proud of him for doing it.”

If it weren't for Rumley and a few others, Brown might have not known that he was even getting close to the milestone.

Brown said his girlfriend, women's basketball player Taylor Poirier, was the first to bring it up back in December.

“It had never crossed my mind until she had mentioned it,” Brown said. “And then Jon mentioned it to me the next week.

“I never would have thought I'd have gotten to 1,000 points this fast. It's really an honor.”

Marcus Tucker, who finished his playing career in 2001, was the last Cougar to go over 1,000 points. He finished with 1,088. Demarcus Morrison is Averett's all-time leading scorer with 1,937 career points.

“To reach a milestone like 1,000 points, you have to be good consistently,” Allen said. “Averett has not had a lot of guys reach that milestone, so he puts himself in a pretty special class.”

Averett may have one more player reach 1,000 points by the end of the season. Rumley, a senior who transferred in before his sophomore season, currently has 941 points with seven regular season games and at least one USA South Conference tournament game remaining.

“He's been a great friend and teammate since he got here,” Brown said. “For both of us to hit the 1,000-point mark and have something to look back on to talk about with each other would be pretty cool.”


Men's basketball all-time scoring leaders (updated Jan. 26, 2008)

1. 1,937, Demarcus Morrison (1996-2000)
2. 1,806, James Braxton (1988-92)
3. 1,325, Chad Ford (1989-93)
4. 1,189, Jay Tate (1996-2000)
5. 1,106, Tony Seay (1988-90)
6. 1,088, Marcus Tucker (1997-2001)
7. 1,017, Damien Brown (2005-09)
8. 965, Cory McDaniel (2004-08)
9. 941, Jonathan Rumley (2006-2009)
10. 935, Andrew Boor, (2003-2007)
*Bold indicates player is active