The Virginia Wesleyan University men's basketball team (8-1, 2-1 ODAC) defeated conference opponent Averett University 49-46. 

Khai Seargeant led the team in scoring with 15 points shooting 4-for-9 from the field, 1-for-2 from beyond the arc, and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe, five rebounds, three steals, and one assist, Waylo Wilson tallied 11 points shooting 5-for-9 from the floor, three rebounds, one steal, and two blocks, and Jordan Crump scored seven points shooting 3-for-10 from the field, and grabbed five rebounds.

Keys to the Game:

• The Marlins' defense was strong again as they forced 17 turnovers with 11 steals scoring 19 points off turnovers, while the Cougars forced 17 turnovers, with six steals scoring 12 points off turnovers. 
• Virginia Wesleyan shot 17-for-51 (33.3%) from the field, and 13-for-20 from the free throw line, compared to the Cougars who shot 20-for-56 (35.7%) and shot 4-for-6 from the free throw line. 
• The VWU bench outscored Averett's 9-5, more fast break points at 6-2, but the Cougars had more points in the paint than the Marlins, 30-26. 

How it Happened:

A low-scoring first half as the Cougars made the first bucket, but the Marlins responded with a 4-0 run to lead 4-2. The teams went back and forth, each scoring 4 points with VWU leading 8-6 with 11:47 left in the half. After two scoreless minutes Averett tied the game at 8-8. 

Virginia Wesleyan responded with back-to-back scores to take a 12-8 lead. Averett outscored the Marlins 6-2 to tie the game at 14-14. Waylo Wilson responded with two buckets to give the Marlins an 18-14 lead with 2:51 in the first half, and Braden Justice made two free throws to give VWU a 20-14 lead. The Cougars made a three pointer in the closing seconds of the half to cut the lead down to 20-17. 

The Cougars came out strong in the second half, going on a 6-4 run to cut the Marlins lead down to 24-23. The Marlins responded with an 8-2 run fueled by six points from Seargent with three steals by Virginia Wesleyan. Averett countered with a 6-0 run to bring the score to 32-31 with 12:12 left in the game. 

Averett went on a 9-5 run over the next five minutes to lead 40-37. However, Virginia Wesleyan responded with an 8-1 run, shooting 3-for-5 from the field and 1-for-3 from three-point territory to lead 45-41 at the 5:34 mark. The Cougars had a late surge outscoring the Marlins 5-4, but missed a three-pointer in the final seconds to fall 49-46.