LAGRANGE, Ga. — Junior Trevor West's jumper with three seconds on the clock gave the Averett University men's basketball team a thrilling 69-68 conference victory over LaGrange College on Saturday afternoon, lifting the Cougars to their fourth consecutive win.
 
Averett (9-5, 3-1 USA South) held a five-point lead after junior Carter Jones nailed a jump shot, giving the Cougars a 67-62 advantage with just under two minutes left in the game. However, the Panthers' Nick Mitchell made a jumper of his own, cutting Averett's lead down to 67-64 with 1:07 on the clock. After an Averett turnover, Mitchell went back down the floor and made a layup, putting LaGrange within one with 56 seconds to play.
 
On Averett's ensuing possession, LaGrange's Jordan Johnson blocked a shot and Justyn Olson grabbed the defensive board with 19 seconds remaining. Moments later, Mitchell gave the Panthers a 68-67 lead on a layup with 13 seconds to play. However, in thrilling fashion, West answered at the other end by sinking a jumpshot to put the Cougars back in front 69-68 with three seconds remaining.
 
LaGrange had a shot to steal the win, but Olson's 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded fell short, giving Averett its third consecutive road win, including two in a row in USA South play.
 
A tight game throughout, LaGrange (7-6, 1-2 USA South) took a 61-57 lead when Mike White made both of his free throws, giving the Panthers a four-point advantage with 5:50 left in the game. However, West nailed a 3-pointer, cutting LaGrange's lead to 61-60 at the 5:37 mark. After Mitchell missed a shot on the other end, sophomore Charles Bryant grabbed the defensive board and found junior Bradley Robinson who sunk a 3, giving the Cougars a 63-61 lead with just over five minutes remaining. Averett added to it when Jones got a put-back off a missed free throw, increasing the Cougars' lead to 65-61 lead with 4:27 remaining.
 
Despite the close finish, the Panthers' led by as many as nine points in the first half. Olson made his jump shot after a steal by Mark Wagner, giving LaGrange a 13-4 lead at the 15:35 mark. However, the Cougars responded with a 16-6 run to take the lead when freshman James Contreras Jr. scored, giving Averett a 20-19 with 7:18 left in the first half. The teams were tied at 32-32 at the break.
 
Averett was able to take its biggest lead of the game on a Bryant free throw, which gave the Cougars a 50-45 advantage with 12:25 left in the game.
 
Bryant led three Cougars in double-figure scoring, finishing with 17 points. West recorded 13 and Jones added 12 for Averett in the victory. Bryant and Jones also grabbed nine boards for the Cougars.
 
Averett got another strong performance from its defense, holding the Panthers to 3-of-16 shooting from 3-point range. The Cougars shot 46.4 percent from the field and went 14-for-19 from the charity stripe.
 
Mitchell paced LaGrange with 18 points and six rebounds.
 
Averett suits up again tomorrow as it travels to Montgomery, Alabama, to take on Huntingdon College in conference action. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.