DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's basketball couldn't overcome its first-half deficit as the Cougars fell 90-74 to non-conference foe Eastern Mennonite University in the teams' season-opener Thursday night at the Grant Center.

Averett (0-1) played nearly toe-to-toe with Eastern Mennonite (1-0) on the scoreboard in the second half, but the Royals' strong finish in the first half and quick start in the second period proved to be the different.  Up by 14 at halftime, EMU pushed its lead to as much as 30 points less than seven minutes into the second half. Yet, Averett settled down and played well down the stretch.

The Cougars trimmed their deficit down to 14 points late on freshman Jalen Rowell's 3-pointer with 1:13 to play. However, the comeback attempt ran out of time.

Junior Ian Best helped jumpstart Averett's late push, scoring 10 of his team-high 16 points after the break. Sophomore Harrison Cochran and junior Vince Contreras also scored in double figures, finishing with 13 points and 10 points, respectively. Freshman Noah Smith led the Cougars with seven rebounds to go with six points in 10 minutes of play.

Averett jumped on EMU in the opening minutes, taking a 7-4 lead on sophomore Montre' Cash's 3-pointer less than three minutes in. Then the Royals used a 17-3 run over the next eight minutes to take control. EMU's first-half lead grew to as many as 17 points before the Cougars got within 43-29 entering halftime.

EMU shot 56.6 percent from the floor. Sammy Thomas led all scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds.

Averett returns to the court on Wednesday, Nov. 14, when the Cougars play host to non-conference foe Hampden-Sydney College at 7 p.m. in the Grant Center.