DANVILLE, Va. — The Averett University men's basketball team used a strong second half performance to defeat N.C. Wesleyan College 81-62 on Sunday afternoon at the Grant Center. The victory gave Averett a sweep of the regular season series.

Trailing 35-34 at the half, Averett (15-8, 9-3 USA South) went on a 14-3 tear to open the second period, taking a 48-38 lead on sophomore Charles Bryant's layup at the 15:44 mark. N.C. Wesleyan (12-11, 6-6 USA South) battled back to cut its deficit down to 53-46 with 10:32 remaining, but the Cougars' defense stifled the Battling Bishops, allowing only three points over the course of the next six minutes to take a 74-49 advantage with 4:41 remaining to give them their biggest advantage of the game. N.C. Wesleyan got no closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Averett's man-to-man defense limited the Battling Bishops to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field in the second half and caused them to shoot 4-of-15 from 3-point range. The Cougars, on the other hand, shot 58.3 percent from the field along with a 4-for-9 performance from beyond the arc.

N.C. Wesleyan used a slow start by Averett to establish a 13-4 advantage with 16:19 left in the first period. Despite falling behind early, the Cougars used a 17-8 run to tie the game at 21-21 thanks to junior Bradley Robinson's 3-pointer at the 8:09 mark. Averett eventually took the lead when junior Trevor West nailed his 3, giving the Cougars a 29-26 lead with 4:42 remaining. The Battling Bishops, however, went on a 9-5 run to reestablish a lead at the end of the period.

Robinson led Averett in scoring, finishing with 20 and Stephens had a strong performance off the bench, chipping in 16 points in the victory. West and Bryant gave a strong performance as well, contributing 14 points apiece. Stephens and West also led the Cougars in rebounds, grabbing six boards each.

Averett's defense was key as it caused 15 Battling Bishops' turnovers, leading to 24 points on the afternoon. The Cougars also held N.C. Wesleyan to 29.2 shooting from 3-point range for the game.

In addition to the strong defensive performance, Averett shot 49.1 percent from the field in the victory.

D.J. Weaver led N.C. Wesleyan with 16 points, while Brandon Brown finished with 14 points.

The Cougars return to action on Feb. 18 when they travel to Greensboro, North Carolina, to take on Greensboro College at 5:30 p.m. in conference action.