Southside VA News

McLaughlin, Sellars record double-doubles in men's basketball's narrow loss at Bridgewater

 Double-doubles by senior Bryson McLaughlin and junior Jason Sellars II weren't enough as Averett University men's basketball lost a tight conference road matchup 57-56 at Bridgewater College on Wednesday night in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action.

Bridgewater was up 57-53 with under a minute to play, but junior Jordan Lewis drained a deep 3-pointer with 14.5 seconds remaining to get Averett back within one. After the Cougars pressured the inbounds play, they were forced to foul with 10.5 seconds to go and put Bridgewater on the foul line. The Eagles missed the front end of the one-and-one free throw, giving Averett another chance.

After each team called a timeout with 6.5 seconds to play, Averett got a good look on a driving layup attempt but it rolled off the rim. Time expired before the Cougars could get off another shot, allowing the Eagles to escape with the one-point ODAC victory.

Despite the loss, Averett got a monster night from McLaughlin, who had 15 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. Sellars also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Lewis added 12 points for the Cougars, who also got eight points from redshirt-sophomore transfer Zach Shumate in his first action since joining the team at the semester break.

Bridgewater led 8-2 in opening minutes of the first half. The Eagles were up 21-13 before Averett went on an 8-0 run to tie it, 21-21, on Shumate's layup with 4:12 left in the period. The Eagles inched back ahead 27-23 by halftime.

The Cougars grabbed a five-point advantage, 37-32, with 12:13 to go in the game. The final 12 minutes was a back-and-forth battle in which both teams hit key shots to trade the lead.
Averett outrebounded Bridgewater 51-38 and had 23 offensive rebounds.

Averett returns home to play ODAC foe Washington and Lee University on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the Grant Center. 

Original source can be found here