DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's basketball won its ninth game in a row by grinding out an 86-77 conference win over N.C. Wesleyan College on Tuesday night at the Grant Center.

With the win, Averett (15-6, 11-2 USA South) puts itself in the driver's seat for the USA South Conference's East Division regular season crown with four games remaining before the tournament. The 11 conference wins also matched a program single-season record set by the 2014-15 team in head coach David Doino's first season with the program.

The Cougars withstood a second-half run by N.C. Wesleyan (10-11, 6-7 USA South) that trimmed Averett's lead to 64-60 with 5:21 remaining. Averett, however, extended its lead back to nine points with 2:13 to play. N.C. Wesleyan tried to extend the game by fouling the Cougars to put them on the free throw line and stop the clock. The plan didn't work as Averett hit 12 of its 16 free throw attempts over the final two minutes to help seal the win.

Averett led for nearly the entire contest. With the game tied 22-22 with 6:35 remaining in the first half, the Cougars ended the period on a 15-5 run to take a 10-point lead into halftime.

Junior Montre' Cash led Averett with 18 points to go with eight assists. Seniors Timothy Henry and Vince Contreras added 13 points and 10 points respectively, with Henry grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Moriba Diaby, who scored 11, also gave the Cougars some big points down the stretch in the second half — as did juniors Bryson Davis and Jamal Forde. Junior Raymond Bullock III chipped in nine points as well.

A.J. Frye and Damon McDowell each scored 20 points for N.C. Wesleyan.

Averett's win streak of nine games is three shy of the program record set in 2008-09.

The Cougars have a week before heading to Greensboro College on Feb. 12.