LAGRANGE, Ga. — The Averett University men's basketball team fell 91-76 to LaGrange College on Sunday. Freshman Isaish Jones had a career-high 25 points while junior Timothy Henry recorded a career-high 21.
 
The first 10 minutes of the first half was a back and forth affair that saw both sides trade leads. Jones got the scoring going to start the game as he spotted Averett (3-12, 3-4 USA South) the 2-0 lead when he stole the ball on LaGrange's first possession and dunked the ball in transition. From here, each side started to trade baskets which eventually saw the Panthers own a 20-16 lead with 10:59 left in the first half. Over the course of the next 1:50, Henry made a couple of layups while Jones converted on the old fashioned three-point play to hand the Cougars the 23-22 lead.
 
However, during the next few minutes LaGrange (11-4, 7-1 USA South) went on a 13-0 run to take a commanding 35-23 lead on the scoreboard. Averett was unable to cut this lead into single digits as the Panthers took a 48-33 advantage into the halftime break.
 
In the opening minutes of the second half, LaGrange was able to keep Averett at bay, holding onto a 56-41 lead with 15:48 left in the game. At this point, the Cougars rattled off 11 unanswered points with eight of them coming from Jones alone. The Wake Forest, North Carolina, native nailed two 3-pointers while recording another steal and bucket in transition to bring Averett to within four of LaGrange with 12:16 left to play.
 
The Panthers went on to collect the next six points in the game to stretch their lead back to 62-52. Averett would still not go away as the Cougars again cut their deficit to four at 69-65 with 6:45 remaining thanks to a 13-7 run. Of those 13 points, nine of them came from the three-point line with Jones registering two of them and sophomore Montre Cash recording the other.
 
Unfortunately, LaGrange regained control and built its lead back up to as much as 15 throughout the rest of the game.
 
Averett returns to the floor on Friday, Jan. 18, when the Cougars host Maryville College. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.