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DANVILLE, Va. — Despite a hot start, Averett's offense cooled as Greensboro College came from behind to knock off the Cougars 60-58 on Saturday at the Grant Center.

Averett (4-9, 1-1 USA South) opened with a 9-3 lead after knocking down three consecutive 3-pointers. Midway through the first half, as the Cougars led 20-16, 15 of their points came on 3-pointers. Averett was 8-for-13 from beyond the arc in the first half and 14-for-27 overall, which helped it take a 38-30 lead by halftime.

The second half, however, wasn't as kind to the Cougars. Greensboro (5-7, 3-3 USA South) turned an eight-point halftime deficit into a 45-40 lead less than four minutes into the second period. Averett never regained the lead, although it cut the deficit to one several times, including a final time with 1:17 to play. After a pair of Ruben Pierce free throws sliced Greensboro's lead to 56-55, Greensboro's Luqman Tijani nailed a jumper at the other end. The Cougars had multiple opportunities to tie the game, but they couldn't connect.

Jason Baker hit a pair of free throws to extend the Pride's lead to 60-55 with six seconds remaining before senior Brandon Malone banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Averett shot just 22.2 percent in the second half, including 18.2 percent from 3-point territory.

Greensboro's Adam Powell led all scorers with 18 points. Tijani added 11 points off the bench.

Malone paced the Cougars with a team-high 16 points. Sophomore Kenny Hart finished with 12 points.

Averett will look to bounce back on the road when the Cougars travel to Methodist University for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday.