DANVILLE, Va. — Senior Jonathan Rumley notched his first career triple-double and Averett bounced back from a halftime deficit to beat N.C. Wesleyan College 94-80 on Thursday night at the Grant Center.

Trailing by five at the half, Rumley helped Averett (11-8, 4-2 USA South) spark a 30-9 run in which the Cougars opened the second half by shooting percent (13 of 15) from the floor on their way to a 66-50 lead with 12:40 to play. Averett's 16-point lead dwindled to six with just under seven minutes to play, but the Cougars responded and pushed their lead back to double digits for the final four minutes.

Rumley finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists for the first triple-double by a Cougar since David Apple in 1999. Rumley also had five steals.

Averett also got a season-high 19 points from senior Damien Brown, who was honored before the game with a ball commemorating his achievement of becoming the program's seventh 1,000-point scorer. Senior Justin Parker and freshman Kenny Hart added 15 points and 14 points, respectively.

Jarmel Arrington led N.C. Wesleyan (12-6, 2-3 USA South) with 19 points, while Lamont Stokes finished with 18 points.

After a tight start, N.C. Wesleyan began to pull away midway through the first half. Arrington gave the Battling Bishops a 29-22 lead with 7:30 to play in the first half. The Cougars eventually tied the game at 31-31 on a Hart 3-pointer, but N.C. Wesleyan went back ahead 41-36 by halftime.

Averett returns to action on Feb. 4 at Ferrum College at 7:30 p.m.





Prior to the Cougars' win over N.C. Wesleyan, Averett coach Jimmy Allen, left, presents Damien Brown with a basketball honoring the senior center's achievement of reaching 1,000 career points.