DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's basketball advanced to the USA South Conference Tournament semifinals with a 63-55 quarterfinals win over Southern Virginia University on Tuesday night in front a electric crowd at the Grant Center.
Averett (15-11), the No. 1 seed in the East Division, advanced to Friday's semifinals against West Division No. 3 LaGrange College at 5 p.m. in a game hosted by Covenant College.
Down by two at halftime, Averett (15-11) used a 23-2 run to open the second half and take control of the game while building a 51-32 advantage with 9:35 to play. That shift in momentum got Averett's fans fired up.
"I'm just excited for our guys," Averett head coach
David Doino said. "Anytime you get to the postseason, to be able to find a win on your home floor in front of the crowd we had tonight — the crowd was amazing and we really fed off their energy and it got us going in the second half.
Averett fell behind by as many as eight points with 6:49 to play in the first half as East Division No. 4 seed Southern Virginia controlled the lead for most of the first half. The Cougars slowly chipped away in the final minutes to get within 30-28 as the Averett crowd got into it.
"The message in the locker room was that we really hadn't made a run yet," Doino said of his halftime talk with his team. "… I thought the way the half ended, energy wise in here from our crowd, I thought we could make one really good run at them and get this place rocking, I thought our guys would feed off that energy. We made that run and got it rocking, and then we were just able to hold on toward the end.
Although the big run to start the second half put the Cougars in the driver's seat, Averett had to hold off Southern Virginia late. The Knights, who beat Averett on the same floor less than a week ago, made a run with under five minutes remaining and pulled within six points twice before the Cougars iced the game at the free throw line late.
"Just to be able to survive and advance this time of year adds excitement," Doino said. "We got back to grinding the way we needed to and we were able to find a way to move on."
Sophomore
Jason Sellars II had a strong performance, leading the team with 13 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Sophomore
Jordan Lewis added 11 points and three steals. Although Averett only shot 37.9 percent from the floor, they out-rebounded Southern Virginia 40-26 and caused 18 turnovers. Another key was limiting the Knights to only seven 3-pointers after giving up 11 to them last week in the loss.
