LEXINGTON, Va. — Averett University men's basketball's comeback attempt late fell short in a 78-75 conference road loss to Washington and Lee University on Tuesday night.
 
Averett (8-16, 3-12 ODAC) trailed by double-digits in the second half but stayed close enough to make a final push late. Trailing 77-68 with under a minute to play, back to back layups by graduate Jason Sellars II gave the Cougars hope. Sophomore Terrell Fitzgerald's jumper with six seconds to play cut the Generals' lead to 77-72. A quick foul led to Washington and Lee (7-17, 5-10 ODAC) making one of two free throws to extend its lead back to 78-72. Averett quickly pushed the ball and sophomore Jamison Graves drained a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left.

After a timeout, Averett's defense made the steal and appeared to have scored a quick layup — which still would have left the Cougars' short by a point with 0.2 seconds left on the clock — but it was waived off as the officials said the clock started late, thus ending the game.

Graves finished with 24 points, while Sellars II had 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Freshman Jackson Sellars added 14 points and six boards for the Cougars.

Sellars II inched closer to 1,000 career points, leaving him 13 shy of the mark entering the final regular season game on Saturday.

Washington and Lee jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead in the opening minutes and held off the Cougars for the entire first half while taking a 40-34 lead into halftime. The Cougars got within 49-47 in the second period but couldn't quite get the timely stop or basket needed to surge ahead.

Averett finishes the regular season on Saturday at Guilford College.
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