Men's Basketball | 2/6/2013 10:09:00 PM

Box Score FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Keemon Ingram poured in a career-high 23 points, including a pair of key free throws with 24 seconds remaining as the Methodist men's basketball team held off Averett, 77-76, on Wednesday evening at the Riddle Center.
 
Ingram, the USA South's top three-point shooter, connected on 6-of-8 shots from beyond the arc, and his two free throws late in the game gave Methodist (9-11, 6-5 USA South) a 77-74 lead as it split the season series with Averett (8-13, 4-7 USA South).
 
Ingram's free throws came after AU's Justin Pierce hit three attempts from the charity stripe after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 34 seconds remaining that pulled the Cougars to within a single point at 75-74.
 
Methodist, which had trailed the majority of the second half, and by as many as 14 (58-44) with 14:22 left to play, took the lead for good on after an Ingram three-point play tied the game at 69-69. He followed with his sixth triple of the contest on the Monarchs' next possession for a 72-69 MU lead and Methodist held on down the stretch.
 
Averett, which held a 37-35 lead at the break, opened the second period with a 21-9 scoring run to take a 58-44 lead by the 14:22 mark. The Cougars hit seven of their first nine shots in the second half, including four three pointers, three by Sunil Ram. The Monarchs promptly reeled off a 14-0 run themselves, hitting five straight shots and 6-of-7 overall to tie the game a 58-58 with 10:57 to play. From there, the lead changed hands four more times and the game was tied on three occasions as the two teams came down the stretch.
 
Averett shot 51.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, making good on 16-of-31 attempts from the floor, compared to just 36.4 percent shooting (12-33) for the Monarchs. However, Methodist knocked down 7-of-16 three-point attempts in the opening half to remain within striking distance of the Cougars.
 
Bryan Hockaday added 10 points and eight rebounds for Methodist and Ingram chipped in five rebounds. Johnel Jones added nine points, four rebounds and three assists as MU racked 21 assists as a team on the night.
 
Pierce led the Cougars with 30 points and added six rebounds. Paul Porter finished with 16 points and eight rebounds and Ram totaled 14 points, 11 in the second half. Trevor West added eight points and 10 assists for AU.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday when they play at Ferrum at 4:00 pm.