DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's basketball fell short in the final seconds, falling to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 70-69 on Sunday at the Grant Center.

Averett (2-1) rallied from an 11-point deficit with five minutes to play to tie it at 68-68 thanks to sophomore Isaiah Jones' 3-pointer and put-back layup on back-to-back possessions with 1:49 to play. The Cougars then took a 69-68 lead over Mary Hardin-Baylor (3-1) with 1:14 remaining on junior Montre' Cash's free throw.

The Cru jumped back in front, 70-69, on a pair of Sam Moore free throws with just under a minute to play. The Cougars had several good looks to make a go-ahead shot in the final minute, plus an opportunity in the final second. Averett was fouled with 0.1 seconds left, but both shots didn't fall. Averett also had a tip at the buzzer that rattled out, allowing Mary Hardin-Baylor to escape with the non-conference win.

Cash helped the Cougars get off to a solid start, scoring 11 of his team-high 16 points early in the first half. The two teams stayed within two possessions of each other the entire half, with Averett getting a rebound and layup by freshman Jeff Jackson late to give the Cougars a 32-31 edge at halftime.

Averett led by as many as five in the second half on junior Raymond Bullock III's layup at the 15:31 mark.  Mary Hardin-Baylor, however, made a run midway through the period that gave the Cru the lead. That advantage reached as much as 11 points after Jordan Pride's jumper in the paint gave Mary Hardin-Baylor a 68-57 lead with 5:02 to play. That's when Averett went on its 12-0 run before the Cru got the go-ahead free throws with 54 seconds remaining.

Bullock added 13 points, senior Timothy Henry scored 10 points and Jones added nine points, a team-high 10 rebounds and two blocks for the Cougars. Senior Moriba Diaby also had nine points and six boards.

Byrale Carter led Mary Hardin-Baylor with 16 points. Devyn Brewton and Salomon Smith had 13 points and 12 points, respectively. Averett held Moore, who was averaging 23.7 points a game entering the day, to only eight points.

Averett next plays at Guilford College. The game has been moved to Wednesday at 7 p.m.