DANVILLE, Va. – The Averett University Men's Basketball Team (1-1) earned a 70-43 win over Emory & Henry College (0-3) on Friday night in the Averett Cougar Classic at the Grant Center. The Cougars used a big second half to break open a 27-22 game at the half en route to the win.
Averett scored the first six points of the game but Emory & Henry reeled off a 7-0 run to take a 7-6 lead at the 15:16 mark of the first half. The Cougars responded with a 17-6 scoring spurt to go up 23-13, and would lead by as much as 12, before the Wasps scored seven-straight to close the half and cut the gap to make the margin 27-22 at the intermission.
In the first 3:05 of the second half, AU started off with an 11-0 run to go up 38-22. The Cougars steadily built their lead over the course of the final 20 minutes, holding a 30-point advantage late before the Wasps scored the final three points of the contest to make the final score 70-43.
Bradley Robinson led the way for Averett, scoring 18 points on six-for-10 shooting and added seven rebounds. Carter Jones notched 10 points, six rebounds and three assists while Charles Bryant had nine points, four rebounds and four steals.
As a team, the Cougars shot 51.9 percent (28-for-54) for the game and hit 11 three-pointers. AU held a 40-23 advantage on rebounding and pulled down 13 offensive boards.
Emory & Henry was paced by freshman wing John Shelor (Giles, Va.), who scored nine points off the bench. Sophomore guard Myles Turner (Richmond, Va.) had seven points, three rebounds, four steals while freshman forwards Noah Walker (Bristol, Va.) and Shawn McDaniel (Salem, Va.) tallied six and five points, respectively, with Walker added three blocks.
E&H managed just 31.9 percent (15-for-47) shooting from the field, hitting five shots from long range. The Wasps took advantage of 22 points from its bench and notched 17 points off of Cougar miscues.
Emory & Henry will play its next game on Saturday afternoon at 5:00 p.m., when it takes on William Peace University in the final day of the Averett Cougar Classic.
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-photo courtesy of Caleb Johnston, E&H '15