VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — After leading by 10 points in the second half, No. 7 seed Averett University men's basketball's season ended in a heartbreaking 71-65 loss to No. 2 seed Virginia Wesleyan University in Tuesday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

Virginia Wesleyan (19-7), which is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com poll, advances to Friday's ODAC semifinals in Salem, Virginia. The Marlins will face No. 3 seed Roanoke College, which is ranked No. 25 in the nation, in the 7:30 p.m. contest.

Averett (15-11) went toe-to-toe with the Marlins throughout the first half before making its move late in the opening period. Although neither team shot the ball well early on, Virginia Wesleyan held a 16-7 advantage before the Cougars inched back into it. Sophomore Jalen Chambers went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc to help Averett close the gap, and the Cougars took their first lead since 11-9 with sophomore Jackson Sellars' jumper with 50 seconds left in the half. After a stop at the other end, Sellars added a thunderous dunk to put Averett in front 32-29 before the Marlins added a free throw late to trim the Cougars' lead to 32-30 at halftime.
Averett took charge early in the second half thanks to a 12-4 run in over the first four minutes as redshirt sophomore Timayahs Bracey nailed a pair of 3-pointers during that span to put the Cougars ahead 44-34. However, Virginia Wesleyan quickly erased that margin as Averett's offense cooled. The Marlins pulled within 44-43.

Bracey ended Averett's dry spell with a layup to extend the lead back to three, and the Cougars fought off Virginia Wesleyan momentarily over the next few minutes. However, the Marlins eventually got stops that led to layups and dunks as they soared ahead 51-49 with 8:57 to play.

Sophomore Mason Mitchell's corner 3-pointer briefly helped Averett regain the lead, but a 7-0 run by Virginia Wesleyan gave the Marlins a small cushion. Virginia Wesleyan capitalized on turnovers, missed free throws and key baskets late to stay in control — even when Averett clawed back within 62-59 on sophomore Zach Skogen's 3-pointer with 1:46 to play.

Yet, a Virginia Wesleyan 3-pointer coming out of the timeout added more distance on the scoreboard as the Cougars ran out of time late.

Sellars had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, Bracey had 14 points and Chambers also scored in double figures with 12.

Both teams coincidentally shot an identical 24-for-59 from the floor, but the Marlins' eight more made free throws on 10 additional attempts proved to be the difference.

The loss ended a solid season for the Cougars in which they knocked No. 2 Randolph-Macon College, had regular season wins against four of the top five seeds in the ODAC Tournament — including beating Virginia Wesleyan. Averett — which doesn't have a senior on the roster — also finished with its most wins since its last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2021-22 and had its most conference wins since joining the ODAC prior to the 2022-23 season.
 
 
  Read Full Article