FERRUM, Va. — Averett University men's basketball fell 66-54 at Ferrum College on Wednesday night to open Old Dominion Athletic Conference play.
Ferrum (6-0, 1-0 ODAC) used a second-half run to pull away from previously unbeaten Averett (5-1, 0-1 ODAC), which was receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com poll. The Panthers shot 44.8 percent from the floor, including 50 percent in the second half while finding an answer defensively to limit Averett sophomore
Jamison Graves, who carried a bulk of the scoring load for the Cougars, to just four points in the second half.
Graves finished with a team-high 24 points.
Ferrum rolled out to a 17-8 lead with just under nine minutes left in the first half before Graves took over offensively for the Cougars. The reigning ODAC Offensive Player of the Week and D3hoops.com Team of the Week selection nearly powered the entire comeback alone. Senior
Clay Hodges hit a 3-pointer to get Averett within 17-11, and it was Graves who scored the Cougars' final 18 points of the half as Averett surged ahead for a 29-26 advantage by halftime. Graves was 6-for-11, including two 3-pointers, and was 6-for-7 from the foul line in the first period to give him 20 points in the first half — just above his 19.6 points per game average entering the contest.
In addition to Graves, Averett got eight points and three steals from Hodges. Graduate
Jason Sellars II added seven rebounds and two blocks, while junior
Davion Bowens added seven points and eight rebounds and freshman
Jackson Sellars had seven points. The Cougars had to play most of the game without senior starter
Bryce Shaw, who scored Averett's opening basket before leaving after only two minutes.
Averett returns home to face Virginia Wesleyan University on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
Â
