Men's Basketball | 2/1/2014 7:00:00 PM

Box Score DANVILLE, Va. -- The Methodist men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit, before ultimately dropping a 61-60 contest to Averett on Saturday afternoon at the Grant Center.
 
Methodist (7-13, 5-4 USA South) found itself trailing 57-43 following a layup by AU's Trevor West at the 6:20 mark of the second half before ripping off a 17-4 run to pull within 61-60 on T.J. Gill's jumper with 24 seconds on the clock. After Gill's jumper made it a one-point game, AU (9-9, 6-2 USA South) gave the Monarchs a chance to stay in the game by missing each of their last four free-throw attempts, including a miss by Paul Porter with five seconds left that led to a potential game-winning three by Gill as time expired.
 
The run by the Monarchs to close the came on the strength of an efficient offense coupled with a stifling defense. Methodist closed the contest hitting 7-of-10 field-goal attempts, while limiting the Cougars to 1-of-11 shooting overall and AU missed each of their last seven shots from the field and four shots from the charity stripe.
 
The second half surge came after Averett built upon a five-point lead (29-24) coming out of intermission. The Cougars' lead still stood at five points (42-37) midway through the second half before a 15-6 spurt extended AU's lead to 14 points (57-43) and set up MU's final run.
 
For the game, Methodist shot 37.7 percent from the floor (29-69), and Averett countered at 36.7 percent (22-60). The Cougars outrebounded MU, 51-44, and held a lead in the game for over 36 minutes.
 
Bryan Hockaday led MU with a double-double of 17 points and 15 rebounds. Chris Vinson added a career-high 12 points, to go with six rebounds and four assists. Christian McRae totaled four points, six boards and six assists.
 
For Averett, Porter finished with 12 points, and West added 11. Cody Stephens had nine points and 11 rebounds, and Charles Bryant added eight points and 11 boards, each off the bench.
 
The Monarchs are back in action on Wednesday when they play at Greensboro beginning at 7:30.