DANVILLE, Va. — Junior Raymond Bullock III hit a game-winning fade-away jumper with 0.5 seconds remaining to lift the Averett University men's basketball team to a thrilling 69-67 conference victory over William Peace University on Wednesday night at the Grant Center.

"When I shot it, it was like second nature because I work on that every day," Bullock said. "When it came out of my fingers. It just felt good and I knew it was going in."

Averett (13-6, 9-2 USA South), which trailed for a portion of the second half, rallied to win its seventh consecutive game and remain atop the USA South Conference East Division standings. The Cougars found themselves down 65-61 with 3:03 to play, but back-to-back baskets by freshman Bryson McLaughlin and senior Vince Contreras tied the game a minute later to set up the electrifying finish against William Peace (7-11, 5-5 USA South).

Both teams got key defensive stops, including Averett, which forced a William Peace turnover with 59.2 seconds. With the game still tied 65-65, Averett head coach David Doino drew up a play to get Bullock in open space on the left side. Bullock backed down his defender into the paint and put up the right-handed shot to give the Cougars a 67-65 advantage with 36.1 seconds remaining.

The Pacers, however, had their own answer at the other end as Trey Bryant banked in a jumper despite being guarded heavily by three Cougars in the paint, knotting the game at 67-67 with 18.7 seconds to play.

Following a William Peace timeout, Doino decided to stick with what had worked and go with Bullock, who he said has been their best player in a lot of games this season.

"We felt he could get a good look if we put him in space to go to work," Doino said.

Sophomore KeShawn Lewis passed the ball in to Bullock along the left side with about six seconds remaining.

"When I got the ball, I took a look at the clock. There were five seconds left. I said to myself, 'I'm going to wait until it gets to three to make my move.'"

Bullock took one dribble to his right and pulled up for the game-winner with 0.5 seconds remaining as the crowd erupted.

William Peace had one heave to the other end of the court but couldn't get a shot up as the Cougars celebrated after the buzzer in the latest nail-biter in the series between the two conference rivals.

Bullock, who finished with a team-high 15 points, was the spark early for the Cougars as he scored seven points to help Averett race out to a 13-2 advantage in the opening minutes. Yet, William Peace's defense tripped up the Cougars on one end while the Pacers caught fire from outside. William Peace drained six 3-pointers in the first half to surge ahead by 10 points before an eight-point effort by Contreras over the final three minutes helped Averett get back within 40-34 at the half.

Averett regained momentum at the start of the second half, opening the period with an 11-4 run to inch ahead 45-44. The two teams traded leads throughout the half. William Peace extended its lead back to four points several times, including as late as the 3:03 mark on John Burwell's layup to give the Pacers a 65-61 advantage before the Cougars came from behind in the final minutes to seal the win and sweep the regular season series.

"I loved how hard we fought back to get back into the game and showed the passion to come back and win," said Bullock, who added five rebounds and two steals.

Another angle of the @AverettMBB game-winner from the Averett Sports Network broadcast. // #GoAUCougars #d3hoops #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/gADFRTbJiI

— Averett Athletics (@AverettUCougars) January 30, 2020

Contreras finished with 14 points off the bench, while sophomore Isaiah Jones totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks for Averett. The Cougars also got notable efforts from Lewis and McLaughlin, who each had eight points. Lewis also had five rebounds and a team-high four steals, while McLaughlin had five boards.

Bryant led William Peace with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Although the exciting win Wednesday night certainly helps gives the Cougars added momentum and confidence heading into the final stretch of the season, Bullock said they aren't thinking about the current seven-game win streak. They have bigger team goals in mind.

"It's on to the next game," he said. "We'll get back to work tomorrow, everyone will continue to work on their games and we'll try to keep it going."

Averett travels to Methodist University on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game.