The Virginia Wesleyan University men's basketball team (19-7, 14-3 ODAC) defeated No. 7 Averett University (15-11, 11-4 ODAC) in the ODAC Quarterfinals on Tuesday, February 24, by a score of 71-65.
Omari Deveaux led the Marlins with 30 points, shooting 9-for-19 from the field, 9-for-16 from the free throw line, 3-for-6 from the arc, and had seven rebounds.
Amari Moorer added 16 points to the board, shooting 5-for-13 from the field, 6-for-6 from the free throw line, and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Paul Anderson also tallied 11 points, shooting 4-for-10 from the field, 2-for-2 from the free throw line, got three rebounds, and stole the ball once.
The quarterfinals game started strong with both teams going shot-for-shot throughout the first 10 minutes of the game before the Marlins took a bit of a lead at 16-11 with 11:37 left on the clock for the first half. Averett responded by outscoring the Marlins 16-13 in the next nine minutes of the game to bring the score to a tied 27-27 with 2:41 left in the first. From there, the Cougars kept the upper hand and went into halftime leading, 32-30.
Coming out of halftime, Averett started strong, going on a 12-4 run in the first five minutes to extend its lead to 10 points, making the score 44-34. The Marlins responded by going on a 15-8 run to bring the score back to an even 49-49 with 9:23 left in the game. From there, Averett stayed close to Virginia Wesleyan, going basket-for-basket until the final two minutes of the game. The Marlins closed the game on an 11-7 run in the final minutes to seal the 71-65 victory and advance to the next round of the ODAC Tournament.
