DANVILLE, Va. — Sophomore
Jackson Sellars hit a fadeaway jumper at the top of the lane with 0.7 seconds left to help Averett University men's basketball escape with an 84-82 overtime win on Friday in the Grant Center.
Tied 82-82 as the clock ticked away, Sellars drove from the top of the key, spun, stopped and put up a fadeaway jumper just in front of the free throw line to give Averett (11-5, 4-3 ODAC) the go-ahead basket. Sophomore
Mason Mitchell batted down the long pass to midcourt, helping Averett survive after losing a nine-point lead in the final minute of regulation.
Averett controlled the game from the start and only trailed by one point momentarily with six minutes left in the first half. The Cougars built as much as a 14-point lead, 60-46, with 6:19 left in the second half. For every Hampden-Sydney challenge to the Cougars' lead, Averett seemingly answered with a big shot or timely play — until the final minute.
With Averett leading 72-63, Hampden-Sydney hit a corner 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining to get within six. The Tigers got several key offensive rebounds off missed free throws multiple times and eventually got a layup to trim Averett's lead to 72-68 with 36 seconds remaining in regulation. An Averett turnover led to another Hampden-Sydney layup to then cut the score to 72-70 with 26 seconds left. Hampden-Sydney forced another steal and got the tying basket seconds later. Tied 72-72, the Cougars' errant inbounds pass gave Hampden-Sydney possession for a chance to take the last shot for an improbable comeback. The Tigers missed two shot attempts, including one at the buzzer, to send the game to overtime.
Hampden-Sydney, which is still receiving votes in the D3hoops.com poll after being nationally ranked earlier in the season, drained a 3-pointer to start overtime, but junior
Isaiah Ramazani hit back-to-back layups to put the Cougars back in front. After the Tigers inched back in front, Sellars hit a layup while being fouled, and his free throw put Averett on top 79-77 with 1:50 to go. After trading points, Hampden-Sydney tied the game, 82-82, with 24 seconds remaining to give Averett a chance at holding for a final shot, which Sellars nailed to save the day.
Averett rushed out to red-hot 13-4 start, hitting three 3-pointers in less than four minutes. Hampden-Sydney slowly closed the gap and briefly took a 20-19 advantage before the Cougars rattled off an 11-0 run to help them enter the break with a 30-22 halftime lead.
The Cougars' success through the first 39 minutes of action correlated with Averett's ability to drain shots from beyond the arc. The Cougars hit a season-high 13 3-pointers as a team. Averett shot 51.6 percent from the floor overall, which helped offset being outrebounded 43-24 but the Tigers.
Averett had four players score 15 points or more, led by Sellars' team-high 24 points. Mitchell had 16 points, and redshirt sophomore
Timayahs Bracey and freshman
Tyler Stephens both finished with 15 points. Stephens had a team-high five rebounds and two blocks, with Sellars and Ramazani each pacing the Cougars with four assists.
The win was Averett's second featuring late-game heroics against a nationally ranked team or team receiving votes in the poll. The Cougars knocked off then-No. 2 Randolph-Macon College on Jan. 7.
Averett hosts Washington and Lee University at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
