Men's Basketball | 2/5/2011 9:49:48 PM

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - The Methodist men's basketball team battled back from a 15-point deficit to earn the 63-61 victory over Averett University on Saturday.

Methodist got on the board first with a free throw from Kyle Combs, but less than five minutes later and Averett held the 11-1 lead. The Cougars took their largest lead of the game at 20-5 with 10:23 remaining in the half. Josh Hayes drained three 3-pointers in the first half, his final trey trimming the lead to four with 1:48 left to play. Averett responded and took the 33-25 lead into the locker room at the break.

The Cougars scored first in the second half, but Methodist kept chipping away at the lead before a layup from Marc Slade on the feed from Devonne Blackshear gave Methodist the lead at 45-44 with 11:54 left to play. Averett briefly regained the advantage at 46-45, but Methodist led by as many as seven. The Cougars' Kenny Hart hit a 3-pointer with 53 seconds left to tie the game at 61. Both teams came up with crucial blocks to leave the score tied. Methodist got the ball back with 7.3 seconds remaining and called a timeout. Josh Hayes missed the three, but Mark Jernigan was there for the tip-in to give Methodist the lead with 2.7 seconds left. Averett called a timeout to set up a final play, but Hart's shot missed securing the Monarchs' win.

Hayes finished with 18 points while Kyle Combs and Bryan Hockaday added 14 points a piece. Hockaday added seven rebounds and seven blocks.

Marquis Scott paced the Cougars with 15 points.

Methodist will be back in action next Saturday when they travel to N.C. Wesleyan for a 4 p.m. tip-off.

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