DANVILLE, VA – Christopher Newport's men's basketball squad snapped a three-game losing streak as they defeated Averett 84-80 in overtime Sunday afternoon.
The Captains also snap a 10-game losing streak when trailing at the half. CNU trailed 36-35 at the break and led by as many as 12 in the second half before Averett battled back to take the lead late in regulation.
The game was tied at 53-all with 11:45 left in regulation before the Captains went on a 16-4 run to take a 12 point lead with 6:10 to go. The Cougars Ryan Frazier led his squad back by draining nine of Averett's 13 points in one span to cut into the lead. AU battled all the way back to take the lead 75-74 with 47 seconds left on two Jonathon Rumley free throws.
After a CNU turnover, Max Stone was fouled and went to the line where he made one free throw with 25 seconds left. Christopher Newport's Thomas Whinnett forced overtime with 11 seconds left on his jumper from the left wing. Stone had a chance to win it for the Cougars but his 12-footer was short.
In overtime, Davon Barton put CNU ahead early before AU scored the next four points to take an 82-78 lead with 2:17 remaining. Conley Taylor's lay-up with 1:29 to go tied the game for the 14th time. David Mustian's bucket off the glass with 36 ticks to go gave CNU a two-point advantage. After a missed AU three-pointer, Whinnett was fouled and went to the line and drained two free throws to seal the win.
For the game, Averett finished 29-of-80 (36%) from the field, 14-of-46 (30%) from behind the arc and 8-of-15 (53%) from the free throw line. Frazier finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Rumley added 14 points and 11 assists. Cory McDaniel had 13, Damien Brown and Shaun Hagwood each finished with 11.
The Captains were 37-of-76 (49%) from the floor, 5-of-25 (20%) from long range and 5-of-7 (71%) from the charity stripe. Barton paced CNU with 22 points and seven assists. Taylor contributed 19 points, Whinnett added 15 and nine boards and Michael Green contributed 14 points.
The Cougars fall to 9-9 on the year and 3-2 in the USA South. CNU improves to 5-12 overall and 1-3 in conference play. Christopher Newport returns to action Saturday when they host Methodist at 4 pm.
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