Sellars scores career-high 19 points in men's basketball's narrow loss at Virginia Wesleyan
Averett University men's basketball couldn't convert on several late opportunities as Virginia Wesleyan University escaped with a 59-58 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory on Wednesday night.
Averett (5-4, 1-2 ODAC) led 58-54 after a layup by junior Jason Sellars II with 3:49 to play. Virginia Wesleyan (9-1, 3-1 ODAC) answered with a 3-pointer moments later to get back within one. The Marlins then took the lead with an Amarion Wilson dunk with just under three minutes to go. That proved to be the difference as neither team scored the rest of the way.
The Cougars had several opportunities late but couldn't convert on consecutive possessions. Following a Virginia Wesleyan timeout with a minute to play, the Cougars got a defensive stop and called timeout with 31 seconds remaining. A pair of jumpers didn't fall and the Marlins grabbed the defensive rebound, forcing the Cougars to foul immediately. Virginia Wesleyan missed the front end of a one-and-one and the Cougars pulled in the rebound and called timeout with 3.0 seconds remaining. However, an errant pass on the inbounds play was stolen by the Marlins, who were again fouled with 1.8 seconds left. Again, Virginia Wesleyan couldn't covert on either free throw and the Marlins knocked the rebound out of bounds with 1.5 seconds left to give the Cougars one more shot. A long pass down court ended up in one last shot attempt, but it didn't fall for Averett at the buzzer.
Sellars finished with career-high 19 points with a team-high nine rebounds. Averett also got 13 points and six rebounds from senior Raja Milton and 10 points from redshirt sophomore Jem Lowrance. Senior Bryson McLaughlin added seven rebounds off the bench.
A tight game in the first half, Virginia Wesleyan inched ahead 29-23 for its largest lead of the opening period. However, a pair of baskets by Sellars pulled the Cougars back within two points and Lowrance tied it at 29-29 with a hook shot. Averett's defense got a stop late to preserve a 33-33 tie entering halftime.
The Cougars outrebounded Virginia Wesleyan 30-24.
Averett returns home to host ODAC foe Ferrum College on Monday at 7 p.m. in the Grant Center.
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