ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. — Despite trailing nearly the entire game, the Averett University men's basketball team never gave up. Instead, the East Division No. 4 seeded Cougars surged ahead in the final minutes to knock off East No. 1 seed N.C. Wesleyan College 82-78 on the road in the USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals Tuesday night.

"Our guys showed tremendous mental toughness in a tough atmosphere versus a very good team," Averett head coach David Doino said. "Down eight with under six minutes to go, we kept fighting every single possession."

Down 72-64 with 5:34 to play in the second half, Averett (9-17) stayed on N.C. Wesleyan's heels and within striking distance. Through the first 38 minutes of the 40-minute game, the Cougars led twice — both times by one point, once in each half — for a combined total of less than two minutes. Yet, Averett kept battling the Bishops in front of a hostile, packed Everett Gymnasium where the Cougars hadn't won since 2015.

Averett pulled within two on junior Vince Contreras' layup with two minutes to play. After N.C. Wesleyan (19-7) missed at the other end, junior Montre' Cash drained a deep 3-pointer near the top of the key to put the Cougars in front, 77-76, with 1:27 remaining. After each team missed jumpers on their next possessions, Averett senior Jalen Burnett stole the ball and made the fastbreak layup while being fouled with 27 seconds to go in regulation. Burnett drilled the ensuing free throw to put Averett ahead 80-76, taking the wind out of N.C. Wesleyan's sails and quieting the crowd.

N.C. Wesleyan closed within 80-78 with a Chris Braswell layup, but Cash — a native of Rocky Mount playing in his hometown — calmly sank both free throws after being fouled immediately, thus putting the game out of reach with 5.5 seconds left. The Bishops' final 3-pointer fell short as Averett celebrated an "upset" of N.C. Wesleyan, who the Cougars split with during their regular season series.

Averett will face West Division No. 2 seed Maryville College at 5 p.m. in Friday's USA South semifinals, hosted by Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Covenant, the No. 1 seed in the West, will face East No. 2 seed Methodist University in the other semifinal at 7 p.m.

The Cougars used a total team attack to beat N.C. Wesleyan. Five Cougars scored in double-figures, with Cash leading the way with 17 points. Burnett added 16 points, Contreras had 13 points and junior Timothy Henry and sophomore Raymond Bullock III each had 12 points. Junior Moriba Diaby chipped in nine points as well.

N.C. Wesleyan inched out to as much as an eight-point lead in the first half before settling for a 44-42 advantage at the break. Although Averett tied it on Henry's jumper at the start of the second period, the Bishops continued to shoot at a high percentage throughout most of the second half before cooling late. N.C. Wesleyan, which shot 61 percent from the floor in the first half, finished at 51 percent for the game. Their nine 3-pointers helped them stay in front of Averett for most of the contest.

Averett, meanwhile, had a strong shooting night as well, finishing at 48.5 percent for the game.

Although the N.C. Wesleyan was the higher seed, the two teams split the regular season meetings. The Bishops won 84-82 in Rocky Mount on Dec. 15, while Averett dominated them 78-65 in Danville on Feb. 6. Entering the tournament, both teams were on different trajectories. N.C. Wesleyan, which was 18-3 overall before falling to Averett on Feb. 6, lost three of its final four games in the regular season. The Cougars, meanwhile, won five of their last seven games despite missing several players due to injury or illness.