LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, Ga. — Averett University men's basketball is headed to the 2022 USA South Conference Tournament championship after outlasting LaGrange College 81-77 in double-overtime Friday evening in the semifinals hosted by Covenant College.

Averett (16-11), the No. 1 seed in the USA South East Division, earned a spot in the championship game on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Covenant. The Cougars will face West No. 1 seed Covenant, which got past East No. 2 seed N.C. Wesleyan College 58-53 on Friday night.

"I'm extremely proud of these guys," Averett head coach David Doino said. "They earned it. Now we're going to have to earn what we want tomorrow."
 
The battle between Averett and LaGrange (16-11) was filled with a roller coaster ride of momentum shifts. Averett dominated the first half, leading by as many as 13 points before taking a 37-28 advantage into halftime. LaGrange quickly turned the tides, opening the second half with a 15-2 run to take control for the moment. The Panthers led by eight points multiple times with under eight minutes to play, but Averett put together a 16-3 run of its own to jump back in front 63-58 on a corner 3-pointer by junior Corey Baldwin.

LaGrange tied it up, 65-65, with one of two free throws, giving Averett a chance to win with its final possession. However, the Cougars' two contested shots in the final seconds missed, sending the game to overtime.

The Cougars quickly grabbed a 69-65 advantage in the first moments and never trailed in the first overtime. LaGrange, however, battled back. Averett hit one of two free throws to keep its lead at only two, and the Panthers hit a turnaround jumper in the final seconds to tie it at 73-73 and force a second overtime.

LaGrange looked poised to pull an upset for the second consecutive game as it took a 77-73 lead in the first two minutes of the second overtime. That's when Baldwin stepped up. Sophomore Jason Sellars II hit one of two free throws, but Averett grabbed the offensive rebound, which eventually led to a Baldwin 3-pointer to tie the game, 77-77 with 1:22 left. The Cougars got a steal at the other end, which led to a Baldwin layup in transition, pushed Averett in front 79-77.

LaGrange missed a pair of would-be tying free throws with 20 seconds remaining and Sellars scored a layup on the fastbreak to all but ice the game and send Averett to the title game.

"We showed tremendous heart and toughness," Doino said. "To be up at halftime, go down by eight in the second half, then in overtime we're up and they come back, then in the second overtime they're up and we come back. We were mentally tough enough to move on to the next play and stay together all the way through it and just show tremendous heart and passion."

Baldwin, who had just two points at halftime, finished with a team-high 21 points and a career-high 16 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. The USA South All-Conference First Team selection also had four steals and a block. Sellars also set a career-high with 19 points while also grabbing nine boards with three steals and two blocks. Sophomore Jordan Lewis finished with 14 points and matched his career-high of seven assists.

Bershard Edwards led LaGrange with 27 points, with Kyle Brown adding 21 points and 10 rebounds in the loss.

Averett advances to its 10th USA South Conference championship game appearance (including last season's East Division-only title game due to COVID-19 restrictions) in what is its final season in the USA South before joining the Old Dominion Athletic Conference in 2022-23. The Cougars will look to punch their first ticket to the NCAA Tournament since 2008-09.
 
 
 
 
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