DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's basketball sophomore Isaiah Jones swatted a layup attempt off the glass and the Cougars found senior Vince Contreras at the other end for an open celebration layup to put the exclamation point on a 60-55 comeback win over Roanoke College on Sunday at the Grant Center.
 
Roanoke (4-3) led by four with 4:22 to play before junior Jamal Forde nailed a 3-pointer and sophomore KeShawn Lewis hit a put-back jumper in the paint on consecutive possessions to put Averett (5-2) in front 53-52 with 3:19 remaining. Neither team scored over the next two-plus minutes until senior Timothy Henry's layup extended Averett's advantage to 55-52 with just under a minute remaining.

Jones hit a pair of free throws to increase Averett's lead to 57-52 with 20 seconds to play, but Roanoke cut it to 57-55 moments later on a Tripp Greene 3-pointer. Jones hit one of two free throws at the other end to get the Cougars' lead back to three with 12.2 seconds left. Roanoke's Caleb Jordan tried to drive for a quick layup when Jones threw Jordan's shot off the glass — his third block of the game. Contreras gathered the rebound and passed to junior Raymond Bullock III, who got it back to Contreras, who raced back to the other end for a layup as time expired.

The Cougars rallied from a 10-point deficit in the opening minutes of the second half thanks to a 10-0 run in less than a four-minute span that tied the game at 35-35 with 14:51 remaining. Averett inched ahead 45-41 on a Forde 3-pointer with 8:18 left before Roanoke answered with an 11-3 run to take a 52-48 advantage with 4:22 to play.

Averett overcame Roanoke's hot shooting from outside as the Maroons went 11-for-19 from beyond the arc, including 6-for-10 in the first half — which helped Roanoke build a 27-23 lead at the break.

Henry scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the first half to keep Averett within striking distance. Jones came alive in the second half, scoring 13 of his 15 points after the break. Both just missed recording double-doubles as they each led the Cougars with nine rebounds. Forde added eight points off the bench, while Lewis matched his career-high with six points while dishing out a team-high five assists.

As a team, Averett shot 42.6 percent from the field while limiting Roanoke to just 34 percent shooting — including 7-for-34 on all shots inside 3-point range.

Greene led three Roanoke players in double-digit scoring with 17 points.

The Cougars return to action on Monday, Dec. 9, when they host non-conference rival Ferrum College.