Box Score

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Averett senior Justin Pierce scored a career-high 39 points as the Cougars knocked off N.C. Wesleyan College 88-74 for a valuable USA South Conference road victory on Saturday.

After taking a 41-34 lead into halftime, Averett (7-8, 3-3 USA South) never relinquished the lead in the second half. N.C. Wesleyan (9-7, 2-5 USA South) inched within two points on several occasions, but the Cougars reestablished a comfortable lead each time before building a double-digit advantage in the final minutes.

The win is arguably Averett's biggest road victory under third-year coach Matt Parke, especially considering that the Cougars snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Bishops without the help of senior Marquis Scott, the team's leading rebounder and second leading scorer who missed his second consecutive game with a knee injury.

N.C. Wesleyan led for a bulk of the first half before Averett went on a 9-0 run to take a 30-26 advantage with 4:01 to go in the period.
Pierce's 39 points are two more than his previous career-high of 37 set on Dec. 15 against Lynchburg College and fell just two points shy of Demarcus Morrison's program-record of 41 points against Shenandoah University in 1999.

Pierce also added nine rebounds as he outdueled N.C. Wesleyan's Brandon Givens, who entered the day as the conference's leading scorer at 27.7 points per game. Givens finished with a team-high 27 points for the Battling Bishops.

Averett also got 15 points and seven rebounds from freshman Bradley Robinson and 10 points from junior Paul Porter.  Averett shot 47.6 from the floor as a team and outrebounded N.C. Wesleyan by a 46-31 margin.

Averett returns to action on Wednesday when the Cougars travel to play nationally ranked Christopher Newport University at 7:30 p.m.