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DANVILLE, Va. — Fourth-seeded Averett pulled away from fifth-seeded Ferrum College midway through the second half and the Cougars held on for a 73-62 victory in the USA South Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday at the Grant Center.
Averett (10-15) advances to the conference semifinals for the sixth consecutive season. The Cougars will face top-seed N.C. Wesleyan College in Friday's 4 p.m. semifinal matchup. N.C. Wesleyan had a bye in the opening round. Third-seed Christopher Newport University will take on second-seeded Shenandoah University in the other semifinal game.
The Cougars led by four points at halftime, but Ferrum (10-16) made its move at the start of the second period. A pair of 3-pointers by Daryl Hart eventually helped the Panthers take a 42-39 lead with just under 15 minutes to play. Averett, however, responded with a 10-0 run that included seven points from senior
Chad Hardway. Hardway finished with a team-high 19 points and 11 rebounds.
Ferrum closed that 49-42 gap back down to five points until the momentum swung into Averett's favor in the form of a four-point play. Ferrum's Derek Mitchell was whistled for a foul, and Mitchell was additionally charged with a technical foul. Senior
Brandon Malone hit both free throws on the technical foul and Hardway knocked down the free throws from the personal foul.
From there, Averett kept the Panthers at a distance with the help of 9-of-12 shooting from the foul line in the final four minutes.
Malone added 14 points and senior
Mike Miller finished with 10 points for the Cougars.
Mitchell led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds. Nick English and Hart chipped in with 15 points and 11 points, respectively.
Averett improves to 13-2 in conference tournament play under sixth-year head coach
Jimmy Allen, including 3-0 against Ferrum. Overall, Averett is 24-29 in the conference tournament with a 5-1 postseason record against the Panthers.