DANVILLE, Va. — Averett University men's basketball rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat Southern Virginia University 79-70 in the Cougars' home opener Tuesday night in the Grant Center.
Averett (2-0), which trailed by as many as 19 late in the first half and battled foul trouble, flipped a switch early in the second half. Down 51-35 in the opening minutes of the second period, the Cougars chipped away with the help of big shots by senior
Bryce Shaw and freshman
Zach Skogen and pulled within 51-50 in less than a four-minute span.
After fighting back from a large deficit, the Cougars couldn't quite turn the corner as Southern Virginia (0-1) held off Averett while rebuilding a 67-58 lead with 7:04 to play. That's when Averett locked in.
Shaw and sophomore
Jamison Graves came up with several big plays to help Averett inch back within 68-66 with 2:24 to play, and Graves drained back-to-back 3-pointers to swing the momentum fully in the Cougars' direction as Averett surged ahead 72-68 with 1:32 remaining. Averett outscored Southern Virginia 21-3 over the final seven minutes to put away the Knights — Southern Virginia's only field goal during that span was a conceded layup with 25 seconds to go.
Shaw finished with a team-high 22 points and grabbed six rebounds before fouling out in the final minutes. Graves had 18 points and four steals off the bench for the Cougars, who got a career-high 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks from Skogen. Freshman
Mason Mitchell pitched in nine points and seven rebounds, while junior
Davion Bowens — the reigning Old Dominion Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week — finished with eight points and three blocks despite only playing about 17 minutes because of foul trouble.
The Cougars, coming off a win over No. 20 Maryville College last Saturday to open the season, fell behind as Southern Virginia used a 10-2 run to pull ahead 21-12 midway through the first half. Over the first 20 minutes, the Knights outrebounded Averett 26-12 and had a 13-1 margin on second-chance points on their way to a 44-28 halftime lead. The Cougars, who shot just 30.8 percent in the first half, recovered by shooting 58.6 percent in the second half and outrebounding Southern Virginia 23-10 after halftime.
Eli Balstaedt, a transfer from Division I University of Utah, and Tillman Johnson, a junior college transfer, led Southern Virginia with 22 points and 21 points, respectively.
Averett travels to William Peace University for a non-conference matchup on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.
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